I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. - Psalm 9:1

“The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.” ― Henry Ward Beecher

In this blog, we are continuing on with our gratitude journey! You can read more about gratitude journals, building gratitude into your life or any of our other blogs here.

One of my favorite ways to acknowledge the seasons passing or to embrace the holidays is to find words of wisdom from some of my favorite authors and thinkers, as well as to even write up some small prayers and thoughts of my own. In this blog, I want to do just that! I want to share a few of my favorite thanksgiving psalms, prayers, and poems. Then in the reflection section, I want to help you to write out some of your own thoughts and prayers as a personal psalm. 

There is something so beautiful about writing out all of our reasons to be grateful! It allows us to reflect back on them later, to remind ourselves of all the good. As I have mentioned in the past couple of blogs, gratitude can benefit us in so many ways! It can help decrease stress, alleviate worries, and even help improve our sleep. With all of these good reasons in front of us, let’s get started on focusing on gratitude. 

MALCOLM GUITE 

“It is good to fold poetry into our prayer life.” ― Malcolm Guite

Malcolm Guite is an English poet, singer-songwriter, Anglican priest and academic. He has written a wide variety of books. A few of my favorites are his poetry collections. I love to read through both his Advent poetry book, and the one he wrote for Easter and Lent. He also has a YouTube channel where he talks about his research, Narnia, Middle Earth, and so much more. 

You can find his books here and his YouTube channel here. 

Here is his sonnet, Thanksgiving.

“Poetry most often communicates emotions, not directly, but by creating imaginatively the grounds for those emotions. It therefore communicates something more than the emotion; only by means of that something more does it communicate the emotion at all.” ― C.S. Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis is the brilliant author of The Chronicles of Narnia, and so much more. He was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He was a professor in English literature. He also wrote poetry! There are several books of his poetry that you can read, his wife, Joy Davidman, was also a poet and writer. You can even read her book of love sonnets for C. S. Lewis! I find Lewis’ journey of faith and all of written works inspirational. They have definitely been formative in my life! Lewis’ birthday is also November 29th, so Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to spend some time reading his writing. 

You can find his books here.

Here is his poem, As the Ruin Falls:

EMILY DICKINSON

“If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry.” ― Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson was an American poet. While she wasn’t well-known during her life, she is now recognized as one of the most important figures in American poetry. I find her poems encouraging, uplifting and insightful. You can find out more about her and read most of her poems here.

Here is her poem, Gratitude - is not the mention (Poem 989):

YOUR TURN

“Gratitude is a divine emotion. It fills the heart, not to bursting; it warms it, but not to fever.” — Charlotte Bronte

Now I want to share with you my process! When I was young, I read a book that shared how the Psalms are a wonderful way to connect with the variety of emotions of humanity. It then encouraged me to write my own. Essentially to allow my human emotions and feelings to pour onto the page, then to arrange them in a poetic or thoughtful way. These personal psalms can be just for yourself, or you can share them to encourage others. Are you ready? 

To get the most out of these questions, grab a journal and write out your thoughts. Allow yourself to ponder and reflect!

• Start by brainstorming! This is always how I start any writing process. Write out any ideas you have or questions you want to ponder.
• At this point, I usually start to choose what it is I am going to write. Will it be a poem, or prose. Will it be about all of the topics, or just one. Am I going to try and make it rhyme? Is there a specific type of inspiration that I should base my work on?
• Now, you can begin your writing process! 
• When I first started writing out my own psalms, I wrote them as journal entries. Entirely for myself, and unedited as a way to write out feelings or thoughts. However, as time has passed, I have put more intentionality into my writing and sometimes even share them. So choose your own path! 
• Now take this process and follow it again to create even more personal Psalms! 

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. - Psalm 28:7

For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people. And I will hope in your name, for your name is good. - Psalm 52:9