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Faces on Faith: Thankful that America is great

3 min read

As we head toward Thanksgiving, we as Americans have much for which to give thanks! While I know many are simply thankful the election is over, I am thankful we live in a land where we have the freedom and privilege to elect those who govern. Our founding fathers did a fantastic job of putting things in place to preserve freedom.

We are thankful to call home a nation that defends the right of every American to the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness for all. No nation is so diverse, so blessed with responsible freedom than America. While those freedoms, such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the right to bear arms often make us uncomfortable, they have proven to keep us strong.

We are thankful that America remains the most benevolent nation on the planet. No other nation distributes more support to people in need, within and without of our borders than America. This nation that has prospered and is blessed continues to bless the “least of these” around the globe.

But I am especially thankful that we remain “one nation under God.” The election did not change who the Supreme Leader of America is. We hold today, as the women and men who established this nation held then . . .” these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Our Creator God continues to be the One Who endows the rights we hold dear.

And we continue to stand with our founders in gratitude as we gather for thanksgiving, putting our hope and trust in Almighty God. As they stated in the final statement of the courageous Declaration of Independence, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

As Thomas Jefferson said as this great nation was birthed, “God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God?”

Benjamin Franklin stated, “Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, the Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by His Providence. That He ought to be worshipped.”

Come ye thankful people comeand give thanks to the One who makes the feast possiblewho endows us with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

-Dr. Daryl Donovan, Sanibel Community Church