Thanksgiving song

This was my first Thanksgiving Day, and I think that this old American tradition is very nice and God pleasing. It tells me, and to everybody else who comes to live in this state, a lot about how much did those first settlers in the New World rely upon God, and trusted in him, as it was written on the dollar bill. But, what’s left from that great faith, courage and confidence in God’s protection in this New World? Just about a few holydays and a few memories! New generations of people rely just on themselves, on their hi-tech machines, and it seems that there is no place for God in their lives.
Did you know that the original Greek word for what we are doing every Sunday (or every time we serve Divine Liturgy) in the church means exactly “to give thanks- thanksgiving”? What makes the Divine Liturgy so important and so different from the rest of the church services; actually from everything else that’s going on in the church, or around it- is this thanksgiving. This thanksgiving means that we are giving something back to God, and it means we are realizing that everything we have, we’ve received from Him. We are a part of nature, and whole nature is doing the very same thing constantly and repeatedly. Birds are doing it by singing their various and beautiful songs, flowers are giving thanks by fascinating blooming and smelling, the Sun is giving thanks by its life giving shine and warmth, the skies are giving thanks by letting the beneficial rain to fall down on earth, and the Earth is giving thanks by letting grass and trees to grow and to feed a numerous animals. Our song is just a tiny little voice in the hymn, sung by the Universe, grateful to its Creator for His kindness.