PIE AND PRAISE

Hope you are all having a wonderful day.  It is early morning here and I have tons to do.  One thing is to take Joe to the clinic at the V.A. Hospital because he is still sick and throwing up.  Yuck.  It is not fun for either of us.  Just a few days until Thanksgiving so he has to get well.

On Sunday Pastor actually showed up for church.  He is doing so well for it being only 3 weeks since major surgery.  He acted as worship leader and Joe gave the message.  I had to leave to take the kids to Sunday School.  I tried to tape it but for some reason got only 1 1/2 minutes before the camera turned itself off.  *sigh*  I don't know why it did that.  I was told he did a good job.  In fact the only shot I got Sunday morning was this blurry picture of Pastor and Joe before the service.

Joe was OK on Sunday and we went to our Pie and Praise Thanksgiving service in the evening.  First we ate pie.  Lots of pie.  Well, I'm still watching my carbs and had one small piece.

Then we sang a couple of songs and had a Thanksgiving meditation.  Pastor said so many people give thanks on Thanksgiving but how many actually know who they are giving thanks to?  If you are saying thank you, you have to be saying it to somebody.

I am thankful to God for all He has given me.  And I am thankful to God for you, my followers and readers.  I am totally amazed that you would take time out of your day to read my ramblings.  Thank you, each and every one.

It's going to be a very cold Thanksgiving for us.  The coldest in 117 years.

And then after Thanksgiving comes Christmas.  It's not that far off.

Kathy

SUNDAY PRAISE -- COME, YE THANKFUL PEOPLE COME

The closing hymn this morning is "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come."  Most people think of this as a Thanksgiving hymn and it is.  But it is so much more.

This hymn was written in rural England in the mid-19th century when the life of the village during the winter depended on the bounty of the autumn harvest.  While the first stanza of this hymn rejoices over the harvest, the last three stanzas expound on the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds from Matthew 13.  The hymn concludes with a prayer that the final harvest, the Lord's Second Coming, would happen soon.

In 1844 Henry Alford published this hymn under the title "After the Harvest."  He was the rector of a rural church in England at that time, and the text was written for a harvest festival.  It is a sobering text and may have been written to provoke Christians to consider if they were really the children of God or merely going through the motions.  He called it "look alike Christians."

George J. Elvey was the organist at St. George's Chapel at Windsor castle for 47 years.  He wrote this tune for a text by James Montgomery and it was published in 1858.  It was first put together with Alford's words in 1861.

And now a video for you.  Enjoy the beauty of this hymn and consider the words.

Have a wonderful and blessed Sunday.

Kathy