One of my favorite Thanksgiving hymns is actually a 2-part song. The first part is Praise To God, Immortal Praise, and the second is Lord, Should Rising Whirlwinds. The text was written by Anna Barbauld in 1772. I enjoy singing old songs and thinking about what the composer must have been contemplating all those years ago. Several years ago, I rewrote some of the words to this hymn, updating the language and thought to fit our time and culture. I thought I’d share these lyrics with you today.
I
Praise to God, forever praise,
For the love shown every day.
God’s the Source of all my joy,
From my mouth the praises pour.
All is given from God’s hands,
All the truth throughout the lands;
All the beauty, life, and love,
All is sent from God above.
To you great God, I owe my all,
All my blessings from you fall;
To you my heart and soul I raise
In deep commitment and in praise.
II
Lord, should violent storms appear
And take from me what I hold dear,
Should my work be gone today
All my assets blown away;
Lord, should sickness come to kill
Or those I love the most fall ill,
Should war come close to destroy,
Fear and hate replacing joy,
Yet to you, dear God, I’ll raise
Thankfulness and somber praise,
And, when all good things have flown,
I’ll love you for yourself alone!
If nothing else, we have a loving and caring Creator to be thankful for. Sometimes it is difficult to be grateful in the midst of suffering. If you are feeling loss this season, I pray that you will experience comfort; that people who love you will surround you; and that you will know God’s love through them. Let’s remember that our God does not create our suffering. Suffering is here because we live in an imperfect world, and God has chosen to give us the great gift of free will. But God has also promised to walk through our suffering with us. God has promised to take ugly situations and make something beautiful out of them. God has promised to take what is broken and heal it, in one way or another, even if it’s not the way we would choose. God has promised to bring a glimpse of light into dark circumstances. I pray that you can thank God today for doing that in your life, for letting life grow again from charred grounds. God is good. God is love. Hold on to that.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!
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