Word

“In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God:

he heard my voice out of his temple, and

my cry came before him, even into his ears.”

Psa 18.6

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OFT GOD

God bless every man

Who’s been faithful and true

Since the moment of his first call.

And God bless the woman

Who’s done all t’was due

To the blest Savoir of us all.

And, yet, yet, oft God,

Your mercy and your grace,

Has succored us who’ve had a fall.

– eab,  2/9/06

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Henry Alford – died

ON THIS DATE

Henry Alford died 1/12/1871 at Can­ter­bu­ry, Kent, Eng­land – for his own ep­i­taph he wrote: “The inn of a pil­grim tra­vel­ing to Je­ru­sa­lem.”  At 16 he wrote in his Bi­ble, “I do this day in the pre­sence of God and my own soul re­new my cov­e­nant with God and sol­emn­ly de­ter­mine hence­forth to be­come his and to do his work as far as in me lies.”  Alford at­tend­ed Il­min­ster Gram­mar School and Trin­i­ty Coll­ege, Cam­bridge, and was or­dained in 1833.  He was a church man and a schol­ar, pro­duc­ing vol­umes on Homer, Eng­lish po­et­ry, and a Greek New Test­a­ment.  Alford was born 10/7/1810 at Blooms­bu­ry, Mid­dle­sex, Eng­land.

Stanza 1 (of 4) – written in 1844

“Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home;

All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin.

God our Maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied;

Come to God’s own temple, come, raise the song of harvest home.”

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Martin Rinkart – died

ON THIS DATE

Martin Rinkart died 12/8/1649 at Eilenburg, Germany.  He was a Lutheran minister who at 31 began a pastorate in his native Eilenburg, Saxony.  His community suffered terribly from the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648, primarily a struggle between the Roman Catholic system & those who wanted free from it) and the Plague of 1637 (plagues are often the direct results of war).  Rinckart (a variant in spelling) buried 5,000 victims of the plague, including his wife – holding as many as 50 funerals a day.  In spite of the privations and sufferings of this era, he penned sixty-six hymns, his best-known being (“Nun danket alle Gott”) “Now Thank We All Our God.”  He was born 23/4/1586.

 

Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices, Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices; Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us, With ever joyful hearts and blessèd peace to cheer us; And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed; And free us from all ills, in this world and the next!

All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given; The Son and Him Who reigns with Them in highest Heaven; The one eternal God, whom earth and Heaven adore; For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

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BEINGS/THINGS FOR WHICH I GIVE THANKS

For Nov. 30

D.  Deer hunting – (& squirrel, antelope, moose, dall sheep)

enjoy seeing, if not connecting

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BEINGS/THINGS FOR WHICH I GIVE THANKS

For Nov. 28

Books – dogs have their place but

Books are really man’s best tangible “friends”

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BEINGS/THINGS FOR WHICH I GIVE THANKS

For Nov. 27

Autumn – apple cider, pumpkin pie, smell of burning leaves, crisp evenings/mornings

 

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THURSDAY, ALWAYS THURSDAY

 

Have you ever wondered why

It’s the day long chosen for the bird and pumpkin pie?

Turkey always turkey;

Have you ever wondered why,

A native thundering aves

Stuffed from thigh to drumstick thigh?

Dressing always dressing;

Have you ever wondered why,

Dressing packed inside of him then inside you,

Eating till you sigh?

Eating always eating;

Have you ever wondered why?

Because eating with the family is a blessing

Before bye-bye.

– eab, Nov. ‘75

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BEINGS/THINGS FOR WHICH I GIVE THANKS

For Nov. 26

Z.  Zippers – glad they were invented, later Velcro but it does not fully replace the Z.

 

 

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THANKSGIVING

Bronze man standing plum and tall,

To his back, a square, squat, squaw;

On her back, in his round rack

Sat a silent papoose – fat.

These three specimens, native race,

Came on that day face to face,

With Christian man, and Christian grace.

– eab, 11/26/69

* I assigned my HSBC students (had class ON Thanksgiving Day that year) to write a Thanksgiving poem; this is what I wrote during the time they were writing.

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