Come, ye thankful people come, Raise the song of harvest home.
All is safely gathered in, Ere the winter storms begin.
God, our Maker doth provide, For our wants to be supplied.
Come to God’s own temple come; Raise the song of harvest home.
All the world is God’s own field, Fruit unto His praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown, Unto joy or sorrow grown.
First the blade and then the ear, Then the full corn shall appear.
Lord of harvest grant that we, Wholesome grain and pure shall be.
These are the first two verses of a famous hymn written in 1844 by Henry Alford during the time he was a pastor in the little farming village of Wymeswold, England. At this time he published a two volume set of psalms and hymns. This hymn was one of several that we enjoyed singing this week as we celebrated Thanksgiving with our surrounding communities of Dundee, Slayton and Worthington. “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come” was written for the English Harvest Festival, the British version of the American Thanksgiving holiday.
The words paint images in my mind of our southwestern Minnesota life in the countryside. The author labored among his flock in the little farming village where he was beloved. As I read about his life, it told of his visits to each home in his congregation, his teaching of the Bible simply, and his help to them to understand thankful living.
My heart was encouraged as I read about several services to be held all over our area with churches gathered together to give thanks at this season of the year. Celebrations because our lives overflow with things to be thankful for. Because God has given us the eyes to see how incredibly we have been blessed!
So many ways to give thanks and celebrate His goodness! Rejoicing in the beauty of the earth, taking time to nurture ourselves and our families, sharing our love and lives with those around us, and opening our own lives to the Lord and letting His spirit fill us so that we have goodness to give in return.
“Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.” Psalm 95:2 Happy Thanksgiving to you!
lbeerman68@ gmail.com
