WHAT IS THERE TO BE THANKFUL FOR?
“What is there to be thankful for?”
I think I hear you say:
Hope is a happy counsellor
When clouds hang dull and gray;
The sky is dark, the way is long,
The hours move sad and slow;
A fitting time for one sweet song
To set the heart aglow.
A fitting time for one sweet song
To echo far and wide,
The sky is dark, the way is long,
My strength is sorely tried.
Though dark the sky and long the way,
I’ll keep love’s armor bright.
Still singing, through the night, the day,
I know God’s will is right.
How oft the eager pulse must thrill
To robin’s liquid note;
A merry tune, the May-buds trill
’Neath winter’s shielding coat.
There sounds a gracious hymn of praise
From ev’ry living thing;
Because the sun refuse its rays
Can I refuse to sing?
Can I refuse to sing when some
Might find the timid strain
More powerful than trump or drum,
And swell the glad refrain?
Lo, Christ has made me free to rise
From man’s forlorn estate,
To look beyond the stormy skies
And see the pearly gate.
What is there to be thankful for?
A will that would obey;
A soul that stands as conqueror,
And this, that I may pray.
Lo, Christ has made me free to rise
From man’s forlorn estate,
I look beyond the stormy skies
And see the pearly gate.