Marilyn's Musings
November 19, 2024
“Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One, give thanks because he’s given Jesus Christ, his Son”
This is the hymn we are starting our Thanksgiving Worship Service with next Sunday. There were only a few of the ladies that came to practice on Sunday morning. It may be a time when God will hear my voice raised in song (with just a few others) and love hearing it, although my voice is not meant for a choir. But He doesn’t mind. Psalm 100 starts off with “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands”. And, that is exactly what I plan to do.
I decided to “google” some information about the composer of this beautiful hymn of thanksgiving. I enjoy finding out where some composers get their inspiration. I will be copying word for word the information I found about Henry Smith. “Henry Smith must have seen life this way: God’s side of the equation outweighs whatever is on the opposite side. At least, that’s what the words he wrote indicate. God is the “all” of existence, so that I am called to ‘give thanks’ six times in the song’s opening words. When I’m done here on planet Earth, all that will matter is what lies ahead – in God’s presence. That must have been alluring for Henry Smith, who was struggling to find steady work, despite having just earned his college degree. When he says ‘the poor’ are rich in “Give Thanks’, that’s an echo from his difficulty in finding work. His eyesight was also failing because of a degenerative condition that would eventually leave him legally blind, certainly a ‘weakness’ that he expressed in the song as his eyesight faded. Thankfully, theological training informed him that God’s side of the equals sign was what mattered. And other parts of his life further motivated the song that left from his heart. He’d found someone to love, his future wife. And, he was grateful to be through school, which his deteriorating vision had made difficult, and to be back home in a church he loved in Williamsburg, Virginia. If God was all Henry Smith had in 1978, He could be praised, and yet He provided even more. It’s no surprise that Smith’s heart overflowed in a song. And, the song resounds still in Henry Smith’s hometown and around the globe today”.
I know some people are starting to decorate for Christmas. I try to wait until after Thanksgiving so I can remember just to be thankful. It’s nice to just take a day and not worry about anything, just being thankful for what we have. Join us online or in person for our Thanksgiving service on Sunday. We can be thankful together and for each other.
In the book of Ephesians Paul talks a lot about being thankful. I am quoting from a summary I found online (no author was listed) when I say “Paul’s prayer reports in Ephesians suggest that thanksgiving is the native language of prayer”. I like that. It also says “We should be always in a habit of thankfulness, and in a readiness for actual thanksgiving, whenever providence calls us to it”. As we all go thru the next week getting ready for Thanksgiving, let's look beyond the cleaning, food shopping, and getting stressed because of all the work involved for some of us with the holiday. Let’s stop and realize how much we have to be thankful for. Sing with us as we all “Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart”.
“Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart”. I will be singing and practicing for Sunday.
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=PYRgB26rPIs&si=ia8VW_tqJogcBFlj
