Look Who it Was Random video

Observing Thanksgiving Day | Harold Hansen

448 views · Published 23 March 2017 · 16:25 · Indexed 25 September 2026

Channel: BYU Speeches · 2017 · Education

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Thanksgiving is a time for remembering the good gifts of every day. Each time this day draws near the hearts of mankind are joined in grateful praise.

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/harold-hansen_observing-thanksgiving-day/

"It’s now some 354 years since Governor Bradford decreed a Thanksgiving Day, and I want to ask, “How do we value and deserve and observe this day? Do we remember only the feasting?” I think not. One of the great human sins is ingratitude. Surely we have not grown so cynical that we cannot have the spiritual insight to observe the “prayer and praise” part of the day. Virginia Oliver says: “Thanksgiving is a time for remembering—remembering the good gifts of every day, the countless blessings that are ever ours; for remembering Thanksgiving Days that are past, the memories of families and friends, remembering at each time this day draws near the hearts of mankind, joined in grateful praise.”

Did I forget to thank thee, Lord,
For things that may seem small:
A flower by the wayside, 
A wild bird’s lovely call,

For all the daily happenings
That we call commonplace—
For autumn and for sunsets
And a neighbor’s smiling face?

For life is made of little things,
So let me not forget
To count my smallest blessings,
And before the sun is set,

To thank thee, Lord, for every one
That adds a note of cheer, 
And our blessings will be multiplied
Before another year.
[Pauline Stone, “Little Things”]

The longer we live, the more we realize the blessings that lie in everyday living. Just a few—the marvel of good health, the dearness of home and loved ones, the little treasures that money cannot buy, the wonder of the world of nature, freedom under God, and the bounty which we enjoy in this good land. Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate these and many other blessings. It is a way of life. Let us be thankful that there still is sunshine, that we still can glimpse the blue of the sky and, in our onward way, continue to look up. One of the great characters I remember with affection on this campus when I arrived many years ago was Herald R. Clark. We used to pass early each morning just north of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. While he was still some twenty yards away from me, he’d call out, “Look up, H. I., look up!” And I’d look toward the east. I’d get things that would fill my soul for an entire day. But I learned something else, that I had been carrying my head down with burdens. He taught me to look up, and it made life just a little sweeter. I want to be thankful for friends with kind smiles, cheerful words. This is a time for grateful thanksgiving. Shakespeare sang, 'O Lord, who lends me life, lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.'" - Harold Hansen

Harold I. Hansen was professor of speech and dramatic arts at Brigham Young University when this devotional address was given on 25 November 1975.

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