Whether it is a blessing from the past, present, or future we need to show gratitude for what the Lord has given us. This devotional was given on November 2, 1983.
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A special day set aside for thanksgiving seems very appropriate, although we should always be thankful for our blessings. The Lord suggests—even more than suggests, He commands—that we should be thankful for all things. For example, in a modern revelation reiterating in our day some of the basic commandments given through Moses, we read, “Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things” (D&C 59:7). A few verses later in the same section, after counsel on fasting and prayer, a reward for faithful obedience coupled with thanksgiving is promised.
And inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenance, . . . the fullness of the earth is yours. [D&C 59:15–16]
May I share some verse which deals with the significance of Thanksgiving Day:
What Thanksgiving means
Thanksgiving means a lot of things
To different ones I know.
To some it means a wintry day
With gusty wind and snow.
Some others see a sunny day
A warm and balmy time,
With flowers growing in the yard
And orange trees or lime.
Some see a colored autumn scene,
A white and frosty morn,
With yellow pumpkins in the field
And rusty rows of corn.
To some it’s just another day,
And toil the body saps.
No chance to look ahead to see
A holiday perhaps.
To some it means a day to stuff
With turkey, sauce, and pie.
They eat so much it really hurts;
Then on a bed they lie.
Those football games in constant stream
On television screens
Take up the day from morn till night—
At least, that’s how it seems.
But few there are who see this day
As one on which we kneel
In thanks to God for countless things
That should us to Him seal.
Our health, our wealth, our freedoms dear,
Our family and our friends,
The joy of living in this day—
The list just never ends.
The pilgrims felt it worth the time
To set aside a day
To think of God and thank Him, too,
In their own simple way.
We, too, should give to Him above
A day from busy life,
A day when we can think of Him
Without internal strife.
Just pause and ponder on the name—
Thanksgiving Day—it ranks
As one we make a holiday,
A special day for thanks.
This year as I contemplated Thanksgiving—or more accurately this talk for Thanksgiving—I recalled some background from the past which has led to many things for which I am now grateful. I realize that few things come into our possession full blown without roots in the past. Great new ideas—even those arising out of flashes of inspiration—are most often rooted in our experience and background from the past. Similarly, much that we enjoy in terms of material conveniences, family tradition, and educational methods and aspirations developed from past roots. At Thanksgiving time it is appropriate for us to pause to contemplate a little of the road behind us, that the road ahead might have more meaning.
Marriott Center Ancestry
This morning we meet in a beautiful, large facility with multipurposes, but in season emphasizing basketball competition. There are still in existence facilities for basketball which brought us to this comfortable and commodious building. On Sixth North and First East is an old building, the upper floor of which was once BYU’s men’s gymnasium. Within two blocks of that, on University Avenue, is the old gymnasium for women, where intercollegiate basketball games were once played. I well remember BYU’s home games, played in the Springville High gymnasium so that more students and others might see this competitive sport. Many at BYU now remember the tremendous enthusiasm which accompanied the opening of the great new facility, the George Albert Smith Fieldhouse, where most of the games of the Stan Watts era were played. Today’s generation of students knows only this 22,000-seat facility, now one of the finest and largest in the nation.
Our assemblies since my BYU student days have migrated from College Hall on the lower campus, to the Joseph Smith Auditorium, to the George Albert Smith Fieldhouse, and to the Marriott Center. Other University functions have seen like change. Our bookstore was preceded by another in the Herald R. Clark Building, which in turn was preceded by facilities in a temporary barracks building, and, for those of more ancient vintage, a cubbyhole in the basement of College Hall on the lower campus...
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