As you’ve been decorating and preparing for Thanksgiving, perhaps for several weeks, have you also been playing Thanksgiving music?
No?
Why not?
Several reasons come to mind, including the obvious one: Christmas decorating and celebrating has pre-empted Thanksgiving almost entirely. Christmas music began playing in many stores in early November. Some radio stations begin playing Christmas music non-stop even before Thanksgiving.
But equally obvious is the absence of any collected music themed for this holiday.
And yet … the singular core response to the work of God in our lives is gratitude and thanksgiving which breaks forth in worship, usually in songs of praise. I would guess the total corpus of Christian music—hymns, psalms, and praise and worship songs—is predominantly a collection of tunes about giving thanks.
Dearth of music is not the issue.
About a decade ago I was focused intently on helping women prepare their hearts and homes to facilitate the transfer of faith and the knowledge of God to their families during the holidays. I recognized this absence of Thanksgiving music, so to help fill the void, two dear friends of ours collaborated to produce a CD of music for this holiday.
Many of you have been asking for this collection of music for several years. Now we have permission to share their work so that you and yours can enjoy Thanksgiving-themed music this week. As you finalize meal prep, make beds and pull out sleeping bags, this music can help you focus on this historic holiday to thank God for His many provisions.
The hymns and songs in this collection are all instrumentals except for the last one, which is the doxology. The arrangements of these 16 familiar songs are unique to this collection, which was created by Keith Lynch and Alan Mesko, both exceptionally talented musicians. Alan’s fingers made beautiful music for more than one of our daughter’s weddings. He’s now in heaven and we who remain miss him.
May this beautiful music inspire generous thanksgiving and praise to God this week for His endless goodness to us. Thank you, Lord, for Keith and Alan and the gifts you gave them that they have so generously shared with others for your Kingdom work.
Happy Thanksgiving week everyone!!!
