Sunday Poem ~ Thanksgiving

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Picture by Jennie A. Brownscombe (1850-1936), “The First Thanksgiving” (1914), Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, Massachusetts.

“One Nation Under God”

Thanksgiving is more than a day in November

That students of history are taught to remember,

More than a date that we still celebrate

With turkey and dressing piled high on our plate…

For while we still offer the traditional prayer,

We pray out of habit without being aware

That the Pilgrims thanked God just for being alive,

For the strength that He gave them to endure and survive

Hunger and hardship that’s unknown in the present

Where progress and plenty have made our lives pleasant…

And living today in this great and rich nation

That depends not on God but on mechanization,

We tend to forget that our forefathers came

To establish a country under God’s name…

But we feel we’re so strong we no longer need faith,

And it now has become nothing more than a wraith

Of the faith that once founded this powerful nation

In the name of the Maker and the Lord of creation…

Oh, teach us, dear God, we are all pilgrims still,

Subject alone to Your guidance and will,

And show us the way to purposeful living

So we may have reason for daily thanksgiving –

And make us once more a God-fearing nation

And not just a puppet of controlled automation.

~ Helen Steiner Rice

Possibly Related posts:

1. Sunday Poem ~ Who’s Teaching Who?
2. Sunday Poem ~ The Teacher
3. Thursday Thirteen #5 - Thanksgiving Facts - Giving Thanks Thursday
4. Sunday Poem on Prayer
5. I’m Having a Happy Thanksgiving!

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