Thanksgiving Day

O Lord, with humble hearts we pray,

Thy blessing this Thanksgiving Day.

And ask that at the table place,

Where grateful folks say words of grace.

That Thou will come to share the yield,

Thy bounty gave to farm and field.

We pray thy love will bless, O Lord,

Each hearth, each home, each festive board

And that Thy peace will come to stay

Where candles glow this Thanksgiving Day

For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food,

For love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends. 

   ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

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, The First Thanksgiving

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. 

   ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Remember God's bounty in the year. String the pearls of His favor. Hide the dark parts, except so far as they are breaking out in light! Give this one day to thanks, to joy, to gratitude!

  ~Henry Ward Beecher

Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow. 

 ~Edward Sandford Martin