Soon the bright flurries in the air, tracing on
windowpanes the infinite wonders of heavenly
space, will mark the flight of a season that came
with snowy petals of dogwood drifting,
spray beyond delicate spray, in the
early luster of spring. Having in mind this
fair course of nature from seedtime to flowering,
and from flowering to plentiful harvest, safe now
against winter storms, and the light of that
shining grace which has followed us round the year,
permitting us to live in peace and human kindness
above the common hope, I appoint Thursday,
the twenty-fifth of November [1937], as a Day of
Public Thanksgiving in this State [Connecticut].
Let us then, as our fathers used,
praise the Giver of Life for the ample fruit of the
earth, sweetened by sun and rain,
and for the work of the laborer worthy of his hire
in every task and station: for food and clothing
and shelter that serve the body's need. Let us
praise him especially for the blessings which
have warmed and fostered the spirit:
for every brave, just, and generous deed, every
impulse of brotherly love; for every counsel
of wisdom and comfort, every witness of
truth, every thought of friends who walk with
us still, though lost to our sight for all tokens
of goodness in man, which have deepened
faith in our power, looking within the heart,
to fix our eyes upon virtue as upon the
Pole Star, and by it keep our way even to the
mortal end. For these mercies, without name
or number, let us rejoice and give praise. |
