Thanksgiving

From The Detroit Times, November 27, 1912.
By Margaret Florence McAuley.
 

 We thank Thee, God, for every gift
     Thou hast bestowed on man
 Through all the years, in every clime
     Since this strange world began.
 
 We thank thee for the prosperous year
     Now nearly at an end
 For all the comfort, peace, and joy
     Which Thou did’st freely send.
 
 We thank Thee, too, for each good deed
     Each helpful kind reform
 Which served to guide poor, struggling men
     To shelter ‘mid earth’s storm.
 
 We thank Thee that no earthly woe
     Can harm eternally
 But that the very pain we dread
     Binds us more close to Thee.
 
 Behind the cloud is light, behind
     The sorrow there is joy
 And all the foolish wrongs of earth
     Thy right hand can destroy.
 
 Thou Who hast guided in the past
     Wilt lead us to the end
 Power is Thine eternally
     To take, withhold, or send.
 
 And so our heart must still rejoice
     Since Thou art at the helm
 Guiding and lifting all mankind
     Up to a happier realm.