Presidential Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is about giving thanks to God. Every US president, including Barak Obama have attested to this.
Story behind the song
My purpose in writing this song is to point out that Thanksgiving in the United States has always been about giving thanks to God. Hundreds of yearly presidential proclamations from George Washington in 1789 to the present attest to this. This song is a setting of some of the quotations of Barack Obama that attest to this.
All presidential thanksgiving proclamations are here:
http://www.pilgrimhallmuseum.org/thanksgiving_proclamations.htm
Lyrics
Presidential Thanksgiving
Selected from President Barack Obama's Thanksgiving Proclamations 2009-2014
As we gather in our communities and in our homes, around the table or near the hearth, we give thanks to each other and to God for the many kindnesses and comforts that grace our lives. (2011) With God's grace, this holiday season we carry forward the legacy of our forebears. (2014)
Let us spend this day by lifting up those we love, mindful of the grace bestowed upon us by God and by all who have made our lives richer with their presence. (2012)
let us rejoice in the abundance that graces our tables, in the simple gifts that mark our days, in the loved ones who enrich our lives, and in the gifts of a gracious God. (2010)
Today, we recall President George Washington, who proclaimed our first national day of public thanksgiving to be observed "by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God," (2009)
let us lift each other up and recognize, in the oldest spirit of this tradition, that we rise or fall as one Nation, under God. (2013)
Words: From the signed presidential proclamations of President Barack Obama (used under a creative commons license): https://www.whitehouse.gov/copyright
Music: © 2015-2016 Ian Ferrin (this song may be copied freely under a creative commons license 3.0 as long as attribution of both writers is given and the song is re-used in whole and is not-for-profit. No sampling, remixing, modification etc. is allowed.).
Photo used under a creative commons license:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/puzzler4879/
