ANNIE’S MAILBOX: Poems offer reasons to give thanks

November 25, 2010 at 10:58a.m.

By Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar

Dear Readers: Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you are fortunate enough to be spending the holiday with family and friends, and that you remembered those who are alone today and would love to be part of your family on this occasion.

For those readers who are spending the day volunteering at shelters and soup kitchens, bless you for your kind hearts and generosity of spirit.

Many families have had a difficult year, and it may be hard to think of things to be grateful for, so we have provided some reminders:

“Everyday Thanksgiving” (Author Unknown)

“Even though I clutch my blanket and growl when the alarm rings each morning, thank you, Lord, that I can hear.

There are many who are deaf.

Even though I keep my eyes tightly closed against the morning light as long as possible, thank you, Lord, that I can see.

There are many who are blind.

Even though I huddle in my bed and put off the effort of rising, thank you, Lord, that I have the strength to rise.

There are many who are bedridden.

Even though the first hour of my day is hectic, when socks are lost, toast is burned and tempers are short, thank you, Lord, for my family.

There are many who are lonely.

Even though our breakfast table never looks like the pictures in magazines and the menu is at times unbalanced, thank you, Lord, for the food we have.

There are many who are hungry.

Even though the routine of my job is often monotonous, thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to work.

There are many who have no job.

Even though I grumble and bemoan my fate from day to day and wish my circumstances were not so modest, thank you, Lord, for the gift of life.”

“Thanksgiving Prayer” (Author Unknown)

“We come to this table today, O Lord, humble and thankful and glad.

We thank Thee first for the great miracle of life, for the exaltation of being human, for the capacity to love.

We thank Thee for joys both great and simple —

For wonder, dreams and hope;

For the newness of each day;

For laughter and song and a merry heart;

For compassion waiting within to be kindled;

For the forbearance of friends and the smile of a stranger;

For the arching of the earth and trees and heavens and the fruit of all three;

For the wisdom of the old;

For the courage of the young;

For the promise of the child;

For the strength that comes when needed;

For this family united here today.

Of those to whom much is given, much is required. May we and our children remember this. Amen.”

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