A Poem & A Prayer for Thanksgiving

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“Be thankful in all circumstances.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18a

Anyway

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered; Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God; It was never between you and them anyway.

Written by Kent M. Keith and inscribed on the wall of Mother Teresa's children's home in Calcutta, India.

 

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

"For flowers that bloom about our feet, Father, we thank Thee.
For tender grass so fresh, so sweet, Father, we thank Thee.
For the song of bird and hum of bee, for all things fair we hear or see, Father in heaven, we thank Thee.
For blue of stream and blue of sky, Father, we thank Thee.
For pleasant shade of branches high, Father, we thank Thee.
For fragrant air and cooling breeze, for beauty of the blooming trees, Father in heaven, we thank Thee.
For this new morning with its light, Father, we thank Thee.
For rest and shelter of the night, Father, we thank Thee.
For health and food, for love and friends, for everything Thy goodness sends, Father in heaven, we thank Thee."

– Ralph Waldo Emerson