For This Freedom We Are Thankful

The swift turning of the year brings us once more to the theme of Thanksgiving − and gratefully we acknowledge the harvest of the good earth and all that God has given. Through all the years, in spite of faults and failings, we have been blessed, partly because we have inherited a choice land. But there are other reasons also, because even a country with rich resources could quickly become unproductive under some circumstances. And so there must be other reasons − and there are, for which we are thankful. We are thankful that those who settled this beloved land loved freedom as they loved life − thankful for freedom of worship, freedom to work, to speak, to think, to come and go, to choose what we want to be, and to be protected in our person and property, with education, enterprise, and the incentive to succeed. But with all our gratitude we can’t afford to be complacent. “Thanks to your success,” said Dag Hammarskjold, “you now have something to lose.” We have much to lose − more perhaps than anyone ever had in all human history. And yet there are those who would pull down the house that has given them shelter. Notwithstanding all the complaints made against our system and society, the world has yet to produce a nation of free men who have been more blessed. And the world has yet to produce a nation that has shared more with others. For all this we are thankful. We are thankful for those who prepare themselves, those who study and acquire skills; for those who serve us in many ways, for those who do the work of the world. We are thankful for faithful mothers, for faithful fathers. We are thankful for those who invent and invest and build businesses; for those who meet problems, and employ people (and make work and wages possible). We are thankful for those who uphold and enforce law, and for those who have given their lives for liberty and law. And to those who would pull our way of life to pieces because it isn’t perfect − we say you are sawing off the limb on which you yourselves are sitting. It is still, as Lincoln said it, “The last best hope of earth.” We are thankful for law and liberty and life in this blessed and beloved land.