Saint Martin's Cloak

Rich Lowry writes about Sarah Hale, whom he calls the mother of Thanksgiving . Besides plugging for Thanksgiving in her publication,  Godey’s Lady’s Book , she wrote Presidents Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, and Buchanan about it before hitting pay dirt with Abraham Lincoln. . . . Hale saw the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving as the twin festivals of the American people, “each connected with their history, and therefore of great importance in giving power and distinctness to their nationality,” as she put it in an 1852 editorial. July Fourth celebrated national independence and liberty, while Thanksgiving acknowledged God “as the dispenser of blessings.” She argued that “these two festivals should be joyfully and universally observed throughout our whole country, and thus incorporated in our habits of thought as inseparable from American life.”</blockquote>

I prayed my written Veterans Day Prayer, but he spoke from his heart. The general began his keynote address by telling the largely Spanish-speaking crowd in the little community center how he grew up picking watermelons in the hot Texas summer. Somehow he managed to find a way to attend a small state college where a veteran officer inspired him to join the ROTC program. Now, three decades later, the general serves at the highest ranks of the Army. He credited the Army with giving him a way out of the poverty and enriching his life in many ways. His story resonated with the crowd from one of the city's poorer neighborhoods. Frequently breaking into his native Spanish, he went on to talk about the camaraderie that he has experienced within the ranks and among veterans of every generation. Every generation, he said, has the responsibility to build on the legacy of those who came before and to set the next generation up for success. He spoke in glowing terms about the character of t...

God of the ages, We thank you for all the men and women who have served in the armed forces of this country. We thank you for the freedom which their sacrifice has earned and guarded for us and for the people of the world. Help us to prize this freedom and use it well. We seek your blessings today for all living veterans and their families. Give them a sense of satisfaction in their labors and help them know just how much this nation appreciates their service. Come to the aid of those who have stumbled and who have no one to lift them up. Guide those who are having difficulty finding their way. Comfort those who grieve. Heal those who bear physical, emotional or spiritual wounds. Stand with those who provide care to them. Move us all to reach out in love to our neighbors who are veterans, or relatives of veterans, or who currently serve in the military. We pray for the day when no one needs to take up arms. Help us to live now in anticipation of that day, as people who...

O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, You are with us through all our days. Even in times of change, you are still God and we trust in you. I pray today for this dedicated and faithful Soldier as he retires. We are grateful for the decades of sacrificial service which he offered on our behalf. He and his family have given themselves for us; now I pray that the years to come might continue to bring them satisfaction and well being. Go with them and bless them in every new endeavor. Lord, bless us all with strength, defend us from harm, and preserve all that we hold dear, that we may continue to serve our community, our nation and our world. In your holy name, Amen.