“Don’t worry; instead, pray, giving thanks for all He’s done for you.” ~ Philippians 4:6
When the Smith family
gathers today for Thanksgiving, their table holds more than turkey and
trimmings. It stands as a quiet monument to the past. They recall a time when
gratitude was tested by war, when families prayed for the safe return of soldiers
whose laughter had given way to duty and sacrifice.
“Celebration” wasn’t
the word most families would have chosen in 1944. Across the nation, mothers
set empty places for those who wouldn’t return that year. College football
games were canceled because there were so few young men left to play. Even the
beloved Macy’s Parade was suspended, its balloons grounded so the precious
rubber could serve the war effort.
Yet through loss and
longing, Thanksgiving’s spirit endured. It was anchored not in comfort, but in the
conviction that gratitude itself was an extension of courage and trust in God.
Faith became the
nation’s quiet strength, from small-town churches to makeshift chapels on
foreign soil. Americans knelt together, some on wooden pews, others in muddy
foxholes, lifting prayers of gratitude and hope. Divided by oceans but united
in purpose, they remembered that freedom itself was a sacred trust.
The family’s late patriarch,
Captain Durwood J. Smith, would recall one extraordinary Thanksgiving in 1944.
Stationed near a Dutch monastery liberated from Nazi occupation, he and his
fellow soldiers were invited by the monks to share a meal of thanksgiving.
Captain Smith would add that the warmth of that day, and
the faith that filled it, never left him. “It was,” he said, “as if
God Himself had pulled up a chair.”
Now, when his family gathers decades later, his sacred
memory has become central to their own Thanksgiving story, and now maybe part
of yours too. A simple reminder that gratitude is not born of abundance, but of
faith. It’s a legacy that binds generations, linking the comforts of home to
the courage of those who defended it.
Eighty years later, as our nation wrestles with division
and discord, we would do well to remember what united us then: one nation under
God, one flag that waved for all, and one shared belief that freedom is a gift to
be cherished, worth giving thanks for… and fiercely defended.
Lord, today may we look beyond what
separates us and lift our eyes once more to You. May we find in our shared
gratitude the same spirit that sustained our nation through war: faith in God,
love of country, and a hope that no darkness can extinguish. Amen
