Senior Living

In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.

In 1942 Congress proclaimed that Thanksgiving Day would always be on the 4th Thursday of November. Today is November 28, 2019.

Happy Thanksgiving Day to you, and it just so happens that today is also my 63rd birthday. Every so often I get a kick out of being able to make a joke that the whole nation gives thanks on my birthday. But I Googled the question, “How often does November 28 fall on Thanksgiving Day?”

To my surprise I found: “The repeating pattern in number of years apart that November 28 falls on Thanksgiving is 6, 5, 6, 11, 6, 5, 6, 11, etc.”

So, my birthday was on Thanksgiving Day 6 years ago in 2013 and it will happen again in 5 years in 2024. If I live to be 96 years old, I will have 5 more chances to say, “The whole nation gives thanks on my birthday!”

But considering how this country has changed in the past couple of decades, I wonder what this country will look like by then.

By the time you and I depart this earthly life, I wonder if this nation will still observe a national holiday to give thanks to God for all the blessings He has bestowed upon this great land.

Sadly, I wonder if Black Friday will have completely overshadowed the 4-day weekend by the time I reach my final Thanksgiving birthday. But until that day comes, I will continue to gather together with friends and family to ask the Lord’s blessing on every Thanksgiving Day.

Next week: When your life has been brought to ground zero

Dan Williams is the senior adult pastor at Lexington Baptist Church.