7 A final word

November is the month of thanksgiving. And although one day is specifically set apart for the giving of thanks, should we not be thankful at all times and in all places?

In our day the Lord has said: "And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments" (D&C 59:21).

Abraham Lincoln said essentially the same thing in these words: "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in number, wealth, and power as no other Nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multi­plied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the de­ceitfulness of our hearts, that these bless­ings were produced by some superior wis­dom and virtue of our own. Intoxi­cated with unbroken success we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God who made us.

"It behooves us, then, to humble our­selves before the offended power, to con­fess our . . . sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness" (Abraham Lincoln, Man of God, John Wesley Hill, 391).

Though spoken nearly a century and a half ago, these words fit our situ­ation to­day as much or more so than they did in 1863. Let us be grateful. Let us keep His command­ments. Let us, as the ancient pro­phet urged, "live in thanks­giving daily" (Alma 24:38), not just at Thanksgiving time but every day of our lives.

As the Psalmist wrote:

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
Serve the Lord with gladness:
come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the Lord he is God:
it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
and into his courts with praise:
be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endureth to all generations
(Psalms 100:1-5).

A happy Thanksgiving to you all.