Let me be the first to summon the church to a National Congress on Hospitality. We could hold it in Minneapolis near the Betty Crocker Kitchens, and perhaps we could borrow the Pillsbury Doughboy as our symbol. After all, there's some truth to the slogan, "Nothin' says lovin' like somethin' from the oven."
The story is told about two boys who were playing together. They had been reading about the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament. In their little game they built a small altar of stones and placed some wood upon it. When the altar was finished, one boy turned to the other and said, "Now we must find a sacrifice."
For centuries, people in many countries have held harvest festivals to celebrate the bounty of the land and the blessings of life. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln established a national holiday in the United States as "a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father."
Christian industrialist and inventor R. G. LeTourneau is known for his enormous earth-moving machines. One of his products was known simply by the name, "Model G." A prospective buyer, hoping to stump a salesman, asked, "What does the XG' stand for?"
"I guess the G stands for gossip," was the salesman's quick reply. "Because, like gossip, this machine moves a lot of dirt, and moves it fast!"
There is a very touching little story told of a poor woman with two children who had not a bed tor them to lie upon and scarcely any clothes to cover them. In the depth of winter they were nearly frozen, and the mother took the door of a cellar off the hinges and set it up before the corner where they crouched down to sleep, that some of the draft and cold might be kept from them. One of the children whispered to her, when she complained of how badly off they were, "Mother, what do those dear little children do who have no cellar door to put up in front of them?" Even there, you see, the little heart found cause for thanksgiving. —Charles Spurgeon
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