Thanksgiving Day Prayer

Praise is due to you, O God…. You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it. You water its furrows abundantly settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. You […]

Keeping a Good Thanksgiving: Part 8

Part 8: Cranberry Apple Ice The one Thanksgiving constant in my life, in addition to turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, pumpkin pie and Now Thank We All Our God, is a delightful dish called Cranberry Apple Ice. My mother made it every year and on occasion I was drafted to help by turning the […]

Keeping a Good Thanksgiving: Part 7

Part 7: Thou’st Made the World Too Beautiful Poets remind us to pay attention. It’s one of the reasons to read poetry. They see things most of us miss because we are so busy, in a hurry always to get to the next appointment, the next luncheon engagement, the next item on our full and […]

NOVEMBER 22, 1963

I had been an ordained Presbyterian minister exactly five months and was serving my first congregation, the Presbyterian Church in Dyer, Indiana, a small town in the Calumet region of Northwestern Indiana, 30 miles from downtown Chicago. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing that morning. I was at my desk […]

Keeping a Good Thanksgiving: Part 6

Part 6: “What a View!” “Gratitude isn’t what you give in exchange for something: it’s what you feel when you are blessed – blessed to have family and friends who care about you, and want to see you happy. Hence the joy from Thanksgiving.”                 ~ Will Schwable, […]

Keeping a Good Thanksgiving: Part 5

Part 5: What You Feel When You are Blessed I want to now reflect on gratitude and giving thanks. Thanksgiving requires people, food, and the practice – the discipline – of gratitude. When I was a child I had to be forced to say “thank you.” The situation was usually this: a birthday card arrived […]

Keeping a Good Thanksgiving: Part 4

Part 4: For Strangers Who Became Friends So they made their way finally to another safe harbor they named Plymouth and around December 12 began to explore what would be their new home. December 20 they decided to begin building. They chose a 165 foot hill. They named it Plymouth Plantation. An Indian leader, Massasoit, […]

Keeping a Good Thanksgiving: Part 3

Hello again from all of us at Hold to the Good, We hope you are enjoying Rev. Buchanan’s Thanksgiving Series! As he is so apt to do, John will now take us on an historical journey to the roots of American Thanksgiving via the social and religious politics of 17th century England and the harrowing adventure […]

Keeping a Good Thanksgiving: Part 2

Part 2: A “Perfect Meal” Thanksgiving requires people and it requires good food. That’s first. The second important idea in our text is “Hooray for the Pumpkin Pie!” The problem with that is that you and I live our lives miles away from our food. Earlier harvest festivals were celebrated by people who did the […]

Keeping a Good Thanksgiving: Part 1

Greetings to our lovely readers! In these busy weeks – the first of the 2013 holiday season – we are pleased to offer you a series of posts on the subject of Thanksgiving. Delivered by Dr. Buchanan on October 29, 2013 in a speech titled, “Keeping a Good Thanksgiving: Hooray for the Pumpkin Pie,” we […]