Musings: Have A Happy Thanksgiving!

“If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily.” Gerald Good

Musings: Have A Happy Thanksgiving! ... Share a meal, goodwill and cheer...

“For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;
For song of bird, and hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear or see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee!” Ralph Waldo Emerson

We celebrate All Saints’ Day, Rosh Hashanah, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Years, Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, Fourth of July,  Veteran’s Day and a host of others in our household, but Thanksgiving Day has a special hold for us. It is a strong reminder to share our gratitude with others, count our blessings, give thanks, and enjoy a meal together. Plus I love the line, “Have a Happy Thanksgiving!” The poems say it all and say it well. Enjoy them!

Thanksgiving by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
We walk on starry fields of white
And do not see the daisies;
For blessings common in our sight
We rarely offer praises.
We sigh for some supreme delight
To crown our lives with splendor,
And quite ignore our daily store
Of pleasures sweet and tender.

Our cares are bold and push their way
Upon our thought and feeling.
They hang about us all the day,
Our time from pleasure stealing.
So unobtrusive many a joy
We pass by and forget it,
But worry strives to own our lives
And conquers if we let it.

There’s not a day in all the year
But holds some hidden pleasure,
And looking back, joys oft appear
To brim the past’s wide measure.

But blessings are like friends, I hold,
Who love and labor near us.
We ought to raise our notes of praise
While living hearts can hear us.

Full many a blessing wears the guise
Of worry or of trouble.
Farseeing is the soul and wise
Who knows the mask is double.
But he who has the faith and strength
To thank his God for sorrow
Has found a joy without alloy
To gladden every morrow.

We ought to make the moments notes
Of happy, glad Thanksgiving;
The hours and days a silent phrase
Of music we are living.
And so the theme should swell and grow
As weeks and months pass o’er us,
And rise sublime at this good time,
A grand Thanksgiving chorus

“So once in every year, we throng upon a day apart, To praise the Lord with feast and song, In thankfulness of heart.” Arthur Guiterman

Musings: Have A Happy Thanksgiving! Remember to give thanks...

The roar of the world is in my ears.
Thank God for the roar of the world!
Thank God for the mighty tide of fears
Against me always hurled!
Thank God for the bitter and ceaseless strife,
And the sting of His chastening rod!
Thank God for the stress and the pain of life,
And Oh, thank God for God!(For John Bunker)
Thanksgiving by Joyce Kilmer

I hope you had a cheerful, productive day and evening. I hope you enjoyed a good meal and said a prayer for those who have neither food nor family and friends to share the day…  I hope you gave thanks for your largesse and shared your appreciation for your blessings. Have a Happy Thanksgiving Day and  may you enjoy the blessings of many more to come. See you at other upcoming holiday festivities.  More below. 🙂

Thanksgiving by Edgar Albert Guest
Gettin’ together to smile an’ rejoice,
An’ eatin’ an’ laughin’ with folks of your choice;
An’ kissin’ the girls an’ declarin’ that they
Are growin’ more beautiful day after day;
Chattin’ an’ braggin’ a bit with the men,
Buildin’ the old family circle again;
Livin’ the wholesome an’ old-fashioned cheer,
Just for awhile at the end of the year.
Greetings fly fast as we crowd through the door
And under the old roof we gather once more
Just as we did when the youngsters were small;
Mother’s a little bit grayer, that’s all.
Father’s a little bit older, but still
Ready to romp an’ to laugh with a will.
Here we are back at the table again
Tellin’ our stories as women an’ men.

Bowed are our heads for a moment in prayer;
Oh, but we’re grateful an’ glad to be there.
Home from the east land an’ home from the west,
Home with the folks that are dearest an’ best.
Out of the sham of the cities afar
We’ve come for a time to be just what we are.
Here we can talk of ourselves an’ be frank,
Forgettin’ position an’ station an’ rank.

Give me the end of the year an’ its fun
When most of the plannin’ an’ toilin’ is done;
Bring all the wanderers home to the nest,
Let me sit down with the ones I love best,
Hear the old voices still ringin’ with song,
See the old faces unblemished by wrong,
See the old table with all of its chairs
An’ I’ll put soul in my Thanksgivin’ prayers.

“Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day.” Robert Caspar Lintner

Musings: Have A Happy Thanksgiving! A grateful heart is a blessing...

Our rural ancestors, with little blest,
Patient of labour when the end was rest,
Indulged the day that housed their annual grain,
With feasts, and off’rings, and a thankful strain.” Alexander Pope

A Thanksgiving to God for His House by Robert Herrick
Lord, Thou hast given me a cell
Wherein to dwell;
An little house, whose humble roof
Is weather-proof;
Under the spars of which I lie
Both soft and dry;
Where Thou my chamber for to ward
Hast set a guard
Of harmless thoughts, to watch and keep
Me, while I sleep.
Low is my porch as is my fate,
Both void of state;
And yet the threshold of my door
Is worn by’th’ poor,
Who thither come, and freely get
Good words, or meat;
Like as my parlour, so my hall
And kitchen’s small;
A little butterie and therein
A little bin,
Which keeps my little loaf of bread
Unchipp’d, unflay’d;
Some brittle sticks of thorn or briar
Make me a fire,
Close by whose living coal I sit,
And glow like it.
Lord, I confess too, when I dine,
The pulse is Thine,
And all those other bits that be
There plac’d by Thee;
The worts, the purslain, and the mess
Of water-cress,
Which of Thy kindness Thou hast sent;
And my content
Makes those, and my beloved beet,
To be more sweet.
‘Tis Thou that crown’st my glitt’ring hearth
With guiltless mirth;
And giv’st me wassail bowls to drink,
Spic’d to the brink.
Lord, ’tis Thy plenty-dropping hand
That soils my land;
And giv’st me, for my bushel sown,
Twice ten for one;
Thou mak’st my teeming hen to lay
Her egg each day;
Besides my healthful ewes to bear
Me twins each year;
The while the conduits of my kine
Run cream (for wine.)
All these, and better Thou dost send
Me, to this end,
That I should render, for my part,
A thankful heart,
Which, fir’d with incense, I resign
As wholly Thine;
But the acceptance, that must be,
My Christ, by Thee.

I enjoyed reading these poems written with Thanksgiving in mind and I hope you enjoy reading them too. I know many of you are exhausted from the festivities, so this should give you readings to reflect on and enjoy. Now that the day is over, take a break and then get ready for the next batch of holidays coming our way. Kick back, relax and enjoy the poems. What are your thoughts? How do you celebrate Thanksgiving? Have you thought about what this day truly means? Do you like other holidays? What traditions do you have for Thanksgiving and other holidays? Do share! Thank you. 😉

This post was inspired by a prompt from Plinky: What holiday traditions does your family celebrate? What are you looking forward to most this year?

Positive Motivation Tip: Give thanks, share your goodwill today and every day… A grateful heart is a blessing.

PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos Thanksgiving Cheer,  via Wikipedia. Or Thanksgiving Dinner, by Jim the photographer, Give Thanks by Trixiegirl31 via Flickr

Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet

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