Consul General Speeches

Remarks at an Interfaith Ceremony Celebrating Thanksgiving, The English Reformed Church, Amsterdam, November 23, 2006, 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Good afternoon.  I’d like to extend a special greeting to those of you who are celebrating Thanksgiving Day far from home, especially if you are newly arrived.  It is also a pleasure to share part of Thanksgiving Day with those of you who have maintained this wonderful autumn tradition in your adopted home of The Netherlands for many years now. 
Thanksgiving is a day that for Americans invokes memories of family gatherings, recipes passed down through generations, a bountiful meal, perhaps touch football games out in the yard, or for those spectators among us, settling down to watch other people play football on television. 
We grow up with Thanksgiving as an integral part of family life.  Even the youngest American schoolchildren have an understanding of this uniquely American holiday, rooted in the earliest days of the European settlement of the New World.  And early on, we learn the sacred messages of Thanksgiving through the stories and traditions of this truly wonderful day: 
The meaning of tolerance. 
The value of reflection. 
The importance of taking time to be thankful and to express gratitude. 
And the enduring bonds that are created by spending time together and sharing a special meal with those we love. 
Nearly four hundred years after the pilgrims celebrated a harvest feast with the Native Americans who helped them to survive a harsh winter, we gather with friends and family to enjoy a comforting meal, to reflect on blessings we enjoy, and to give thanks. 
In Leiden this morning Dutch and American citizens gathered to commemorate the special role that community played in the English pilgrims’ voyage to the New World.  {BRIEF PILGRIM HISTORY}  The modern tradition of Thanksgiving can be traced back to our first president, George Washington, who declared in his first proclamation that November 26, 1789 was to be a national day of "thanksgiving and prayer." 
During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln revived the tradition of proclaiming a day of thanksgiving, in hopes of beginning to heal a divided Nation and reminding it of its founding ideals.
Now, it is customary for the President of the United States to deliver a proclamation each year designating a Thursday in late November as a National Day of Thanksgiving.  Today, I would like to quote an American president of Dutch descent, a president who knew the blessings and abundance that America offers, but also endured great personal hardship and led the United States through some of the world’s darkest days. 
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in his first Thanksgiving proclamation in 1933 captured what is for me the essence of Thanksgiving Day when he urged his fellow citizens:
“May we recall the courage of those who settled a wilderness, the vision of those who founded the Nation, the steadfastness of those who in every succeeding generation have fought to keep pure the ideal of equality of opportunity and hold clear the goal of mutual help in time of prosperity as in time of adversity …
“May we be grateful for the passing of dark days; for the new spirit of dependence on one another; for the closer unity of all parts of our wide land; … for the brighter day to which we can win through by seeking the help of God in a more unselfish striving for the common bettering of mankind.”
On behalf of my family, and my colleagues at the U.S. Consulate General in Amsterdam I wish you and your families and friends a happy Thanksgiving.
As we take time this year to give thanks for the bounty we enjoy, please spare a thought for those who struggle to provide for themselves and their families.  For those who suffer from illness, want, from loneliness and despair.  And please take a moment to honor those who have placed themselves in harm’s way to protect the freedoms we enjoy.  It is my hope that we can hold true to the origins and purpose of Thanksgiving and strive together for “the common bettering of mankind.”