November 23, 2011

Gratitude and Thanksgiving

The genuine spirit of Thanksgiving.

“I do recommend and assign Thursday … next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.” –George Washington (October 3, 1789)

My family will be celebrating this Thanksgiving in the mountains of Tennessee with family and friends, and in warm homes with plenty. We are blessed far beyond any measure of what we deserve.

Though no day of the year passes without expressions of gratitude to my Creator for His provision, I sometimes take blessings for granted. Most often my lack of gratitude stems from preoccupation with the challenges I face as an individual, and concern for those we face as a nation.

I welcome this Thanksgiving week as an opportunity to pause, step back, and reflect upon how blessed we really are.

One of the maxims by which we strive to live in our home, “Live third person, serving God first, others second and ourselves third,” is supported by the fact that whenever we lose ourselves in selfish preoccupation, we can assuredly find ourselves through serving others. It is in that service that we lift the veil of vanity and rediscover God’s purpose for our lives.

One of the ways God has richly blessed this humble servant is by allowing me to serve Patriots across our nation and around the world. Along with my Patriot team, I am honored to share the burden of defending our inheritance of Liberty with pen, though our swords are always at the ready. We are grateful to stand with you, among millions of other Patriots, steadfast in that defense.

To put our national Day of Thanksgiving into proper context is to consider it as emanating from the Hand of Providence. With this in mind, I invite you to take a moment and read about the The History and Legacy of Thanksgiving, and the proclamations for those that followed.

For a fine perspective on our great history, I encourage you to view “We still hold these truths” from my colleague, constitutional scholar Matt Spalding.

To promote a better understanding of Thanksgiving among the young people in your life, introduce them to our Thanksgiving Quiz.

For inspiration, you might read the text of My Beautiful America, whose author is a fellow Tennessean, Charlie Daniels. Better yet, listen to the song from this great Patriot.

Tell us for what you are thankful!

I humbly thank you for the privilege of serving as editor and publisher of The Patriot Post. On behalf of your Patriot team and our National Advisory Committee, I wish you a peaceful Thanksgiving, and God’s blessings to you and your family.

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.” –Psalm 100:4-5

I leave you with the words below from America the Beautiful by Katharine Lee Bates.

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!

Libertas aut Mortis!

Mark Alexander
Publisher, PatriotPost.US

If you have the means, please take a moment to promote Liberty by supporting our Patriot Annual Campaign today.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassion’d stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.

America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes prov’d
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country lov’d,
And mercy more than life.

America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.