Dr. Ralph D. Evans in RIB, bulletin of the Boulder Rotary Club as reported in

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Boulder, Colorado

The first Thanksgiving Day came in 1621 in the midst of intense trial and deprivation. Yet a handful of people took their exes off their troubles and raised them in humble thanks to God for the things that they did have which made their struggle worth while. They arose stronger and freer than they had ever been before, ready to carry on, come what may, for they had found that their blessings far outweighed their troubles. ... So, they gave thanks. They had reason to give thanks. So do we have reason to give thanks. Thanksgiving is somehow the most genuine of holidays, It celebrates no battle, no birthday of a great man, no political revolution, or no church ritual, it is a great holiday of common people who have worked all year and now pause to thank God for His unfailing care. It is an appraisal of the simplest blessings of common life.

R. E. Niemann in the Michigan Christian Advocate Adrian, Michigan

"O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever" (Ps. 106:1).

Thanksgiving springs from appreciation. We can hardly be thankful for that which we do not appreciate. A person with no sense of music will hardly give thanks for music. ... The man who never has known the Lord can hardly hymn his thanksgiving. Only when we can appreciate great qualities do we give heartfelt thanks.

So it happens that the most godly people are likewise the most thankful. God means so very much to them. They are so blest by His great goodness that their very hearts overflow with thanksgiving. They do it as naturally and as freely as a rose gives out its beauty and its fragrance. God's mercy is unfailing! ... This is our blessed hope and our salvation.

Rev. R. Leonard Small in The Expository Times Edinburgh, Scotland

Real prayer relates life responsively to the loving purpose of God. If God is truly our Father, then when we pray we are never merely trying to attract His attention or to persuade Him to take an interest in us. We are not seeking to wheedle or browbeat Him into doing what we want. We are relating our lives responsively to His purpose, so that He may do in us, and through us, and for us, what He wants.

A much-neglected part of prayer is the kind of thanksgiving which looks at life as we have experienced it, realizes how often and unmistakably God's good hand has been upon us, and so comes to recognize how good is God's purpose for us and how perfectly to be trusted. We should all do well, every now and then, to think and thank.

Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Robert F. Thornton in an article in the Fort Bliss News EI Paso, Texas

One of the Psalms begins with these words, "It is a good thing to give thanks." From whatever way you look at life, this is a correct attitude.

A life that has in it no feeling or expression of thankfulness is missing one of the sources of moral strength. A pagan Cicero knew enough to write, "A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues." Thanksgiving and gratitude go together. No life from which they are missing can be complete, for they are the natural expression of an individual who is mentally and morally sound. Therefore, at Thanksgiving time—and all other seasons—"It is a good thing to give thanks."

True thanksgiving is an attitude of life, not just so many words. A classical example of this is found in the story told by the master storyteller, Jesus, when he described a Pharisee at prayer in the temple. "God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess." He was not displaying an attitude of thanksgiving; lie was boasting. ... He did not praise God from whom all blessings flow; he praised himself. His high regard for himself blotted out every trace of thanksgiving, even though he did use the words.

If we will stop to think, we will stop to thank. The recurrence of the national day of Thanksgiving reminds us once again of the blessings God has bestowed upon us as individuals and as a nation. Our material blessings have been abundant, and our spiritual blessings have had no limits except that of our willingness to receive them.

D. A. Delafield in an article in the Enterprise, Fallbrook, California

Gratitude to God and to our fellow man is the sure sign of nobility and discernment. He who is thankful is first of all mindful of mercies received.

Aptitude in discerning God's blessings leads the heart to express gratitude for those mercies. ... Gratitude is the evidence of a cultivated heart. In the Scripture we are told, "In every thing give thanks." ... I promise you that if you will sit down and think about God's goodness, you will rise up and offer a million thanks to Him for His many benefits.