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For gainful hours of pain and loss, 
For strength that grew beneath the cross, 
For gold refined and freed from dross, 
We thank thee, Lord.

For cheerful ease and calm content, 
For hours in gentle gladness spent, 
So sweet we ask not how they went — 
We thank thee, Lord. 

For hours o'erlived with bated breath; 
For victory in the fight with death; 
For answered prayers that strengthened faith: 
We thank thee, Lord. 

For ties thou hast not torn apart; 
For glimpses of thee as thou art; 
For the " bright weather of our heart," 
We thank thee, Lord. 

And, oh! for mercies numberless — 
For succor in our soul's distress, 
In perils we but dimly guess, 
We thank thee, Lord. 

We have no words and little wit 
To frame such thanks as may befit 
Thy grace, and yet — thou knowest it — 
We thank thee, Lord. 

As children sometimes suddenly 
Run, grateful, to a father's knee — 
We dimly feel our debt to thee, 
And thank thee, Lord. 

~ Anonymous

From the book:Thanksgiving: its origin, celebration and significance as related in prose ...edited by Robert Haven Schauffler