How Thanksgiving Can Help Heal Us: George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation Today
Season 2, Episode 213, Nov 28, 2019, 10:28 AM
Happy Thanksgiving!
Today we consider what it means to give thanks, and the spiritual ramifications of a posture of gratitude. George Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation also helps us see where we are, by being a landmark from where we’ve come.
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Our fall focus on increasing our listenership was a success: thanks to you, our listenership is up 40% since last spring, and 60% from where we started in Season One. We are a small show, and we are growing. We believe we are offering something valuable to the public conversation, and our growth suggests that we’re not alone in thinking that way. So thank you! We will continue to think about ways to expand our engagement with you, and to introduce our show to new people and groups.
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What In God’s Name approaches current events and culture not from a partisan political angle, not from a money and economics angle, not from a technological and scientific angle, but from a theological and philosophical angle.
Here are timecodes to help you navigate through today’s show:
00:22 What is your favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal? Chris and Shayna agree that the best stuffing is cooked inside the turkey. What are you grateful for?
05:54 How is giving thanks the antidote to entitlement? How are gratitude and humility connected?
07:50 What are the benefits of practicing gratitude as a spiritual discipline?
11:11 Chris reads 2 parts of George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789. How does George Washington’s appeals to God strike your 21st-century ears? How would a religious voice in today’s American culture be strengthened by paying attention to Washington’s implied theology?
16:27 The best of what America has to offer: where has it gone? How do we get it back?
18:12 Do we need to (temporarily) forget the injustices of our past, with regard to Native Americans, in order to have a Happy Thanksgiving, or can remembering and being sorry be part of a fuller Thanksgiving?