Few individuals in law enforcement will amass significant wealth through their profession. While salaries vary across different regions, they are generally adequate when managed prudently. For me, it was a profession that provided just enough for my family, and for that, I am profoundly thankful.
The Pilgrims, arriving in New England in December 1620, were ill-prepared for the harsh winter, facing starvation and sickness. Nearly half of their population perished before spring. Imagine the grief and mourning they endured. It’s often said that people find God, or turn away from Him, during times of tragedy and crisis. The Pilgrims, already deeply religious, turned to God in fervent prayer. Regardless of one’s belief in prayer, the Pilgrims’ actions remain a historical fact. After a bountiful harvest the following summer, they declared a three-day feast to celebrate and give thanks.
Over two centuries later, Mrs. Joseph Hale began a 30-year campaign to establish a national Thanksgiving Day. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln responded by designating the last Thursday of November as a national day of thankfulness. However, it wasn’t until 1941 that Congress officially declared it a national holiday.
The Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 resulted in approximately 60,000 American lives lost. It’s said that Lincoln’s faith deepened as he walked among the graves there. Lincoln confided in a friend, “When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But when I went to Gettysburg and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ” 1. Four months later, Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. Around the same time, he issued the lesser-known Thanksgiving Proclamation, stating in part:
“… To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the Source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart, which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God…”
“… No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.”
“It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union 2.”
It’s important to remember that Lincoln issued this proclamation during the Civil War. Times were far from peaceful and harmonious. Deep political divisions, intense strife, and widespread unrest were commonplace as people were dying. This situation bears an uncanny resemblance to modern-day America!
However, the original settlers were thankful for just enough to survive their crisis, and so was Lincoln. Agur, in Proverbs, wrote along these lines: “… give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’” [3] Agur, too, was thankful for just enough.
Retrospection is a valuable teacher. History lessons are important because we can learn from the past to avoid future mistakes. This is why we debrief critical incidents in law enforcement—to prevent repeating errors. Modern culture is unsettled, and historical lessons have been forgotten. There’s a growing dissatisfaction with just enough to get by. We crave wealth, regardless of how it’s obtained. Many are willing to compromise their values to accumulate material possessions or have become comfortable demanding them from others.
Our industriousness is a great asset when it comes to ingenuity and creativity, but it also generates prosperity. When affluence is inherited, respect for its achievement can diminish, leading to conflict and a lack of genuine appreciation for its possession—a real social problem encountered by some. Too often, the pursuit of wealth has led to greed—a vice that corrodes like battery acid, destroying everything it touches. The shattered elements of life include businesses, governments, organizations, relationships, and families. All because trust is absent, and the almighty dollar replaces God Almighty, or other replicate convictions, as a source of contentment.
So, this Thanksgiving, regardless of your spiritual beliefs or financial situation, I suggest we all give thanks for just enough—food on the table, money to pay bills, a roof overhead, bounty on our shelves, and the resources to cope. If you have trust with others and shared love with friends and family, you indeed live in abundance and have just enough!
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