GLENN BECK, the most listened to Talk Show Host among White House Peeps (4 out of 5 Marxists agree)!
http://absalomjonesfoundation.org/
David A. Alexander, Ph.D.—I Love to Teach!
http://david-alexander.tripod.com/id117.htm
Absalom Jones
“On January 1, 1808, the Congress of the United States outlawed the importation of slaves into the United States according to the provisions of the United States Constitution as it was ratified in 1788. Reverend Jones suggested that the day become a great day of national repentance, thanksgiving, and worship for everyone. He further suggested that, “the history of the sufferings of our brethren, and of their deliverance, descend by this means to our children, to the remotest generations; and when they shall ask, in time to come, saying, What mean the lessons, the psalms, the prayers and the praises in the worship of this day? Let us answer them, by saying, the Lord, on the day of which this is the anniversary, abolished the slave trade.” This shows pretty clearly that Reverend Jones understood the pedagogical nature of liturgy and that he intended to use that liturgy to communicate historical and social values in the nation and in the church.
Absalom Jones
A Thanksgiving sermon, preached January 1, 1808
St. Thomas’s (or the African Episcopal) Church
Philadelphia, PA
Having enumerated the mercies of God . . . it becomes us to ask, What shall we render unto the Lord for them? Sacrifices and burnt offerings are no longer pleasing to him: the pomp of public worship, and the ceremonies of a festive day, will find no acceptance with him, unless they are accompanied with actions that correspond with them. The duties, which are inculcated upon us by the event we are now celebrating, divide themselves into five heads.
In the first place, let not our expressions of gratitude to God for his late goodness and mercy to our countrymen, be confined to this day, nor to this house: let us carry grateful tears with us to our places of abode, and to our daily occupations; and let praise and thanksgivings ascend daily to the throne of grace, in our families, and in our closets for what God has done for our African brethren. Let us not forget to praise him for his mercies to such of our color as are inhabitants of this country; particularly, for disposing the hearts of the rulers of many of the states to pass laws for the abolition of slavery; for the number and zeal of the friends he has raised up to plead our cause; and for the privileges we enjoy of worshiping God agreeably to our consciences, in churches of our own. This comely building, erected chiefly by the generosity of our friends, is a monument of God’s goodness to us, and calls for our gratitude with all the other blessings that have been mentioned.
Secondly, Let us unite, with our thanksgiving, prayer to Almighty God, for the completion of his begun goodness to our brethren in Africa. Let us beseech him to extend to all nations in Europe, the same humane and just spirit to them, which he has imparted to the British and American nations. Let us, further, implore the influence of his divine and Holy Spirit, to dispose the hearts of our legislatures to pass laws, to ameliorate the condition of our brethren who are still in bondage; also, to dispose their masters to treat them with kindness and humanity: and, above all things, to favor them with the means of acquiring such parts of human knowledge, as will enable them to read the holy scriptures, and understand the doctrines of the Christian religion, where by they may become, even while they are the slaves of men, the freemen of the Lord.
Thirdly, Let us conduct ourselves in a manner as to furnish no cause of regret to the deliverers of our nation, for their kindness to us. Let us constantly remember the rock whence we were hewn, and the pit whence we were dug. Pride was not made for man, in any situation; and still less, for persons who have recently emerged from bondage. The Jews, after they entered the promised land, were commanded, when they offered sacrifices to the Lord, never to forget their humble origin; and hence, part of the worship that accompanied their sacrifices consisted in acknowledging, that a Syrian, ready to perish, was their father: in like manner, it becomes us, publicly and privately, to acknowledge, that an African slave, ready to perish, was our father or our grandfather. Let our conduct be regulated by the precepts of the gospel; let us be sober minded, humble, peaceable, temperate in our meats and drinks, frugal in our apparel and in the furniture of our houses, industrious in our occupations, just in all our dealings, and ever ready to honor all men. Let us teach our children the rudiments of the English language, in order to enable them to acquire a knowledge of useful trades, and, above all things, let us instruct them in the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, whereby they may become wise unto salvation. It has always been a mystery why the impartial Father of the human race should have permitted the transportation of so many millions of our fellow creatures to this country, to endure all the miseries of slavery. Perhaps his design was, that knowledge of the gospel might be acquired by some of their descendants, in order that they might become qualified to be the messengers of it, to the land of their fathers. Let this thought animate us, when we are teaching our children to love and adore the name of our Redeemer. Who knows but that a Joseph may rise up among them, who shall be the instrument of feeding the African nations with the bread of life, and of saving them, not from earthly bondage, but from the more galling yoke of sin and Satan?
Fourthly, Let us be grateful to our benefactors who, by enlightening the minds of the rulers of the earth, by means of their publications and remonstrance against the trade in our countrymen, have produced the great event we are this day celebrating. Abolition societies and individuals have equal claims to our gratitude. It would be difficult to mention the names of any of our benefactors, without offending many whom we do not know. Some of them are gone to heaven, to receive the reward of their labors of love towards us; and the kindness and benevolence of the survivors, we hope, are recorded in the book of life, to be mentioned with honor when our Lord shall come to reward his faithful servants before an assembled world.
Fifthly, and lastly, Let the first of January, the day of the abolition of the slave trade in our country, be set apart in every year, as a day of public thanksgiving for that mercy. Let the history of the sufferings of our brethren, and of their deliverance, descend by this means to our children, to the remotest generations; and when they shall ask, in time to come, saying, What mean the lessons, the psalms, the prayers and the praises in the worship of this day? Let us answer them, by saying, the Lord, on the day of which this is the anniversary, abolished the slave trade.”
