Don’t look now, but there are people who are trying to get all mention of God erased from your memory. Oh…you already knew that? And you feel they may be right? Would you take the words of George Washington, Abe Lincoln and other patriots who guided our country through those early days that brought it to greatness?

For over 200 years, American presidents have called on us to celebrate our Thanksgiving Day by reflecting on God’s blessings. George Washington proclaimed that it is “the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protections and favor.” He was commenting after Congress had asked him to “recommend to the people of the United States, a day of public thanksgiving and prayer.”

Abe Lincoln? On the same subject, he said that since our national blessings “are the gracious gifts of the most high God, it seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people.”

But that was in the “old days?” I beg your pardon…President Clinton declared our November holiday as a “National Day of Thanksgiving. And he added, “On Thanksgiving Day, we set aside our daily routines to acknowledge the bounty and mercy of Divine Providence.”

John Kennedy said of Thanksgiving Day, “let us gather in sanctuaries dedicated to worship and in homes blessed by family affection to express our gratitude for the glorious gifts of God.” And Ronald Reagan said, “Let us thank God for our families, friends and neighbors, and for the joy of this very festival we celebrate in His name.”

And although our Supreme Court is doing its part now in trying to weaken God by mis-interpreting the Constitution, it wasn’t always that way. Only a few years ago, in the action, Lynch versus Donnelly, the Supreme Court said, “Our history is replete with official references to the value and invocation of Divine Guidance in deliberations and pronouncements of the Founding Fathers…President Washington and his successors proclaiming Thanksgiving, with all its religious overtones, a day of national celebration.” And concerning that case, Chief Justice Warren Burger said, “The Constitution does not require complete separation of church and state; it affirmatively mandates accommodation, not merely toleration, of all religions, and forbids hostility toward any.”

My little saying, “When you’re talking to God, say “thanks” as often as “please” is especially timely at our Thanksgiving holiday. Think about it.