I can remember as a young pastor thumbing through my grandmother Emilie Bee’s old church hymnal while serving a small congregation in Grafton, Illinois. I remember the congregation well because we had to cross the Mississippi into Illinois by way of a barge/ferry. As I perused her hymnal, I came across a piece of music that has become one of my favorite Thanksgiving poems. I like it, first, because it is so simple, and second, because it is so specific. It doesn’t simply ask us to count our blessing and name them one by one (like the old song we grew up with) but it names very explicitly some of the blessings we have been given. It harks back to a time when such faith was unmarred by today’s complications—yet it speaks to our problems and issues just the same.
It has a Swedish origin, written by August Ludvig Storm and is entitled: “Thanks to God for My Redeemer.” It reads like this:
Thanks to God for my Redeemer; Thanks for all thou dost provide.
Thanks for times now a memory; Thanks for Jesus by my side.
Thanks for pleasant, balmy springtime; Thanks for dark and dreary fall.
Thanks for tears by now forgotten; Thanks for peace within my soul.
Thanks for prayer thou hast answered; Thanks for what thou dost deny.
Thanks for storms that I have weathered; Thanks for all thou dost supply.
Thanks for pain, thanks for pleasure; Thanks for comfort in despair.
Thanks for grace that none can measure; Thanks for love beyond compare.
Thanks for roses by the wayside; Thanks for thorns their stems provide.
Thanks for home and thanks for fireside; Thanks for hope, that sweet refrain.
Thanks for joy and thanks for sorrow; Thanks for heavenly peace with thee.
Thanks for hope in tomorrow; Thanks through all eternity.
I encourage you on the eve of this Thanksgiving to take a moment to reflect on the treasures that God has given to you and to your family and friends around. Reflect on the beauty of His creation and our relationship to it. I prefer this particular holiday—Thanksgiving Day—because it is so healthy—so encouraging—and often so understated. Of the three major festivals of the last three months of the year, it is the simplest and most specific. There are not jingles to sing, few commercials to endure, no things to go out and buy—just a day to be thankful and enjoy those around us with a meal. So, look up, look around you and within yourself and say, “Thank you, Lord.”
Kent Schaufelberger
Retired Chaplain, ACPE Certified Educator