For the Beauty of the Earth

We are having rain again. 

And it has gotten much cooler.  A couple of days ago it was in the 90's and now it is in the 60's!  I had to wear a jacket this morning when I went out.  That's Kansas!

"For the beauty of the earth,

             for the glory of the skies...

for the love which comes from birth
         over and around us lies;

Lord of all, to Thee we raise
         This our hymn of grateful praise."

"For the Beauty of the Earth" is one of only a few songs devoted purely to giving thanks.  One of the strange things about the attitude of gratitude is that we tend to exhibit it in reverse proportion to the number of blessings received.  The more we have, the less thankful we are.

Among the lessons Viktor Frankl learned in the Nazi death-camp, Auschwitz, was to take time to be thankful and to count your blessings.  He wrote that prisoners in the camp dreamed at night about certain things more than others.

Bread, cakes, and nice warm baths - the very things we take for granted every day.

Ralph Waldo Emerson observed that if the constellations appeared only once in a thousand years, imagine what an exciting event it would be.  But because they're there every night, we barely give them a look. - from "Then Sings My Soul" by Robert J. Morgan.

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good."  Psalm 107:1

"His mercies are new every morning."  Lamentations 3:23

"I will give thanks to Him in song" - Psalm 28:7