THE FUTURE OUTLOOK
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ftftanfeggibitig Bap
Thanksgiving Day of November 26, 1970, just as was
the day of November 24, 1621, set aside by the New Eng
land Colonists, is a day to give thanks. It was suggested no
doubt by the English Harvest Home and old fashion festi
vals held to celebrate the gathering of crops or the com
pletion of the harvest season.
The first American Thanksgiving was observed by
the Plymouth Colony, November 24, 1621. This was in cele
bration of the fine harvest the colony had reaped that
year. So along with the Indians, the group prepared a
great feast and gave thanks to God. This act became a
tradition with the people and spread throughout New Eng
land. After the Revolutionary War, it spread to the middle
states down over the west, as the people themselves spread.
Up to the Civil War, the idea of Thanksgiving Day spread
slowly throughout the south, the people here being more
bound in English customs.
To foster the celebration, the governors of most states
issued Thanksgiving proclamations, and Abraham Lincoln
set the precedent for the President to do the same for
the nation in 1863, using by common consent, the last
Thursday in November.
Though the actual namesake day is native only to
the United States, mention of the same sort of celebra
tion is made in the Bible and Biblical times when the Pil
grims were rendering celebration for Thanksgiving season
in the temple. As they joined in the processional, they
played sacred anthems on all types of instruments. The
Thanksgiving religious instruments used in the festival
are depicted in the 150th Psalm.
In the first American celebration in 1621, there was
not the jubilancy of the ancient times, but quiet thankful
ness that lives had been spared, food was bountiful, friend
ships flourishing, and freedom at last acquired. It was
here perhaps the idea of preparing bounteous supplies of
food and inviting friends to partake of the feast originat
ed.
Necessity made hunting an activity of the people of
that time and the same goes for friendliness and coopera
tion. Through the years in America, the people, many of
them strayed from the real reason behind the holiday in
favor of the more glamorous rituals of modern existence
such as football games, parades, ecetra, and the over-in
dulgence of the body in favor of the intaldng of food and
drink, so that this day originally set aside for Thanksgiv
ing to God is begun and ended without a single thought of
God, even to the extent often that the day following, the
person is anything but thankful. The winter scope of ac
tivities makes for this lack of time to be allotted to re
ligious activities also. Originally the day was spent in
worship and thanksgiving. Now, however, such remarks as
*T can't go to the services today; gotta do all this cook
ing;" It's the same time as the big TV program; 'T wanna
see the parade, movie or game." ecetra ; "Be gone all day
hunting," are heard, and the modern 30 or 45 minutes of
religious service is forsaken.
This Thanksgiving Day of 1970 is a day In which
many of us have much to be thankful. At the same
time, many of us are sad because of our sons who are be
hind tile line of guns, fighting our enemies in Viet Nam.
We should not forget the long, bitter wars and strife that
some member of every family suffered during Thanks giv
THIS WEEK'S SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
GROWING THROUGH
STRUGGLE
Beginning Where You Are
Many groups today are critici
zing some of the practices and
institutions of our society. Their
reasons are varied; some may be
justified while others are not. In
this situation Christians need to
ask themselves, How should I,
as a Christian, relate to my com
munity and my nation?
A newspaper columnist, Syd
ney J. Harris, has commented on
current methods of trying to
bring about needed change:
"It's strange that so many peo
ple are concerned about "mill
tan ce" who aren't at all concerned
about the conditions that give rise
to militance. Let me start with
an example of the most elemen
tary kind.
"From time to time, we see
pictures in the paper of a group
of mothers barricading a city
street while their children are
crossing on their way home from
school.
"In most cases, these mothers
have protested for a year or
more that the city should install
a traffic light at a dangerous
intersection. They write letters,
visit the mayor, petition the city
council ? and nothing is done.
"So they decide that direct
action must be taken, and they
mount the barricades, blocking
all traffic during school-travel
periods and promising to con
tinue until their children's safety
has been assured.
"What happens in almost every
case? The next morning, or
shortly afterwards, a traffic sig
nal miraculously is installed at
the corner. The authorities have
decided they can't afford this
kind of publicity, and they move
with a celerity that never could
have been achieved by gentler,
private means.
"Now, most of us are sym
pathetic to such mothers, who
are protecting the lives of their
young ones, while we may not
be sympathetic to college mili
tants or to draft militants.
"But the idea behind It all is
exactly the same. The mothers
are 'taking the law into their
own hands' by setting up a traf
fic barrier, and we scarcely
blame them for it. We feel that
social institutions should be
more responsive toward people's
needs in such cases.
"But why should mothers have
to do this? Why should than be
such an immediate payoff on il
legality, and no payoff on quiet.
legal petitions to get changes
made, or even seriously consid
red?
"This is what the fusses are
all about, in the colleges and
elsewhere: To show that institu
tions get hardening o f the ar
teries, that they will not and do
not listen to reasonable argu
ments, that only a show of force
makes them sit up and take
notice.
"This is a tragic situation ?
but the tragedy lies not in the
militancy, rather it lies in the
need for militancy. The militancy
is only a symptom, and most
of us deplore the symptom while
ignoring the disease that it sym
bolizes. When you get nowhere
with niceness, you feel you have
blood, but against the prin
and our job is to create a social
order in which niceness can get
the same results as fast"
What does this analysis of our
society say to us as Christians?
Searching The Scriptures
The Scripture for this lesson is
Matthew 5:10-11; 6:25-34; 7:13
14; Ephesians 6:10-18. Selected
verses are printed below.
Matthew 5:10-11
10 "Blessed are those who are
persecuted for righteousness'
sake, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. ?
11 "Blessed are you when men
revile you and persecute you
and utter all kinds of evil against
you falsely on my account."
Ephesians 6:10-18
10 Finally, be strong in the
Lord and in the strength of his
might. 11 Put on the whole
armor of God, that you may be
able to stand against the wiles
of the devil. 12 For we are not
contending against flesh and
and blood, but against the prin
cipalities, against the powers,
against the world rulers of this
present darkness, against the
spiritual hosts of wickedness in
the heavenly places. 13 There
fore take the whole armor of
God, that you may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and
having done all, to stand. 14
Stand therefore, having girded
your loins with truth, and hav
ing put on the breastplate of
righteousness, 15 and having
shod your feet with the equip
ment of the gospel of peace; 16
above all taking the shield of
faith, with which you can quench
all the flaming darts of the evil
one. 17 And take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 Pray at all times in the Spirit,
ing Days past. Maybe there has been sorrow, too, for it
serves to make us more grateful for the good things in life.
So good an institution as giving thanks should never
be turned into a mere commercialized tradition as it is now
in the hearts of those who love God, their fellowman, and
are grateful for the life they have. No, it should not be
come filled with hypocrisy that has so meaning, and takes
pleasure out of the day, but sometime during the day oar
thoughts should be sent heavenward.
with all prayer and supplica
tion. To that end keep alert with
all perseverance, making sup
plication for all the saints.
Memory Selection: Blessed if
the man who endures trial, far
when he has stood the test ha
will receive the crown of 111*
which God has promised to thoa*
who love him. ? James 1:11
Exploring The Questions
The two passages of Scripture
under consideration in this les
son come from the Sermon on
the Mount and the Book o4
Ephesians.
The passage from Ephesians
needs further comment in two
areas: the use of military lang
uage ? breastplate, shield, hel
met, sword ? and the nature
of evil powers, as these were
viewed by the writer of the
letter.
One scholar has suggested
that the writer's use of military
language comes primarly from
Old Testament sources, especial
ly Isaiah 59:17, in which the
prophet pictures God as arm
ing himself to fight for his peo
ple. Some ideas may come also
from the messianic prophecy in
Isaiah 11:4. The writer of Ephes
ians may well have expanded
the comparison on the basis of
his own observations of the ever
present soldiers of the army of
Rome.
Christians; the writer asserts,
are at war with the powers of
evil, which are striving to over
come the cause of Christ. In the
first century, belief in spiritual
agents was universal. Even is
the Gospels we read of angels
and demons influencing people
To the author of Ephesians, in
visible evil powers were behind
all the trials and tribulation*
of the Christian.
Most persons no longer be
lieve in demons and evil spirits
as such, but we can understand
this belief in part because we
have all felt evil influence In
our lives. The force of evil In
the world is real. And Christians
must find spiritual strength, or
"armor," to live responsibly.
Finding Help With lour
Questions
William Barclay has pointed
out the basic reason why a
Christian may find himself lis
conflict with his society:
"It is an abiding fact in the
human situation that the Chris
tian will always be liable to per
secution of one kind or another
for the reason that the Christian
is bound to be the oonacUnce
of whatever community of which
he may be a member. The Chris
tian does not even need to apeak;
his presence and his life are a
conscience to the sphere, the
society, the circle in which he
moves. It Is not a matter of
spoken criticism and constant
fault-finding; It Is not a matter
(Continued am Pa* 7)