The San Francisco call., 1901-11-24

q.
Fphesus: 'Giving thanks always for all
things unto Cod
It is the duty of all to be thankful TO
Cod. who is the active source of all bless
ings in creation, in providence ana IN
grace. All are the recipients OF Goos
favors which demand return Of thanks
giving. 1t is not only Gods right but
mans happiness, and not to render 1t is
to wrong both God and oneself. 1t is
right and "comely' and pleasant" both
to God and man. Thanksgiving ana
praise is the employment OF earth as wen
as Of heaven. All certainly owe thanks
giving to God as a tribute for past mer-
cies-
O. holy Father! Just and true
Are all thy works and words and ways
And unto thee alone are due
THANKSGIVING end eternal praise!
As children Of thy gracious care,
We veil the eye. we bend the knee.
With broken words OF praise and prayer,
Father and God. we come 10 thee.
1T solacing indeed to think of at least
one little season in the whole year when,
in the midst Of all the rigor and vigor
of life all persons shall possess to some
degree the thanksgiving spirit Like the
Israelites of old, all should come to God
with a peace offering of thanksgiving
which would be delightful to God and
double the offerers blessing; for ii is
More blessed to give than to receive"
AS the Israelites came to the altar with
festive gladness in their hearts, because
peace was established between God and
themselves, and reconciliation was real
ized, so likewise should we all unite in
sacrifcial banquet of joy and thanksgiv-
ing over peace and plenty, through our
Heavenly Fathers good pleasure. The
offerings of the Israelites were an express
sion of their gratitude to God, an ac-
acknowledgement Of his infinite power and
glory, an expression Of their reverent
sense of Gods goodness to them, and OF
a desire to render some service to him
in return. This ancient people Of God did
not always approach him with requests;
they often came with offerings intended
distinctly for thanksgiving.
We, as true worshipers of God, should
not only seek God when we have requests
TO present, or when some danger threat
ems. or some great need presses; but there
are seasons when we should come to him
with songs of praise and thanksgiving.
There are times when the language of all
should be, What shall 1 render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me?"
BLESS the Lord, o my soul, Thanks be
unto God for his Unspeakable gift Is
not our annual Thanksgiving season such
an OCCASION? Is not this a time when all
should yield themselves in devotion to
him who has been their gracious bene-
factor? Is not this a time when the
happy recipients of his grace, like the
stem full of sap throwing out many
branches, will give vent to their full
heart of praise in many different forms?
This is a time when language is lame.
and We say with Hannah More:
Fountain of mercy. whose pervading eye
Can look within and read what passes there,
Accept my thoughts for thanks: 1 have no
words.
Ny soul. o'e-fraught with gratitude, rejects
,rSF NV haar
We call. with Milton. upon all nature to
aid US in rendering praise unto God:
His praise ye winds. that from
-Four quarters blow
Breathe soft Ger land: and
Wave your tops. ye pines.
With every plant, in sign
OF worship wave.
In any normal human being. unless
morally degenerate, gratitude naturally
rises in the heart toward human bene-
factors. How much more should it toward
God. in whom we live and move and
have our being And yet we find the
prophets frequently rebuking Israel for
1hanklessness and reminding them that
the dumb creation put them to shame.
There were many lepers cleansed by
Christ Of whose healing no record is
given. The reason the healing of the
ten lepers is mentioned is no doubt be-
cause one of them came back, giving
him thanks. .''~ The incident was mention
ed TO teach US the lesson of Thanksgiving.
So much to the credit Of the one leper.
The nine had not the excuse nothing to
be thankful for" which is so often
heard. They were thankless and grace
less, for these two qualities of character
are concomitant. They were hard-hearted.
Neither were they thankful" is men
toned as one of the marks Of mans apos-
tasy from God. Gratitude is to man what
the ballast is TO the ship. A ship should
have sufficient ballast for the sail it car
ries. Only in this way can it have the
needful steadiness. A man with great
gifts and honors but who is without the
ballast of gratitude and praise TO God is
very likely to make shipwreck on the rock
Of pride. A man who realizes his right
relations to God will have the right ap-
prehension and consideration of the ben
efits conferred upon him and he will know
how to esteem and value them. While
each new gift increases his sense Of re-
sponsibility it also gives him a growing
sense Of his unworthiness and Of his de-
pendence upon God. 1 say dependence
upon Cod for what is the idea of thanks
giving, If it is not true, sincere and spirit
ual worship Of God in a spirit of thanks
for blessings received? 1t is impossible
for an atheist to be thankful in the true
sense. His words of praise and thanks
giving would not be worship, for while
his language used implies the existence
of a personal God. infinite in power and
goodness, his heart denies his existence.
Like Gains sacrifice, it would not be ac-
ceptable TO God because 1t was not offered
in faith. Thanksgiving without faith and
heart in it is mockery. The Psalmist
says: 4 Will praise thee, o Lord. my
God, with all my heart; for great has
been thy mercy toward me-"
We find then that the thankful heart is
the most worshipful, for the spirit OF
thanksgiving is the predominating element
in praise, which is the essence of true
worship. Worship is only acceptable to
God when it is the joyous expression of
a thankful and reverent heart 1t is then
that man is brought under the spiritually
transforming power Of Cod whom he
wOrships Praise" said one ''is the rent
we owe to God, and the larger the farm
the larger the rent" 1t is TO be feared
that there are many fine farms from
which he receives little or no rent. "In
everything give thanks, for this is the
will Of God concerning you"
While we have appointed and convenient