Read Poem: Thanksgiving, by J. Alan Hostetter

Thank you, Mother Earth,
From whom all life does grow:
Trees and plants and crops
From crumbled leaves and melted snow;

Sea life lay eggs in sand
From crumbled shells eons ago;
Fish swim upstream into pools
From where the rivers flow;

And bugs crawl under foot;
And birds fly overhead.
And clouds bring sacred rain,
The constant, common thread.

And sunlight bright and restful night,
You whirl with Father Moon,
And laugh in cosmic twirl
‘Cross Heaven to the Sun’s gay tune.

And what of us who never were
But are today and then are gone?
This day we celebrate our lives
Until our consciousness is done.

And millions of years have come before
And millions of years will follow after.
And like a spark we live and die
The briefest chance to share the laughter.