“Thanksgiving is nothing if not a glad and reverent lifting of the heart to God in honor and praise for His goodness” is a popular Thanksgiving saying that has been cited in print since at least 1903, when it was credited to Christian author J. R. Miller (1840-1912). The longer passage is:
 
“It should be the aim of Christian people, in all their keeping of the day, whether in the sacred gladness of the home, in public services in church or Sunday-school, or in festivities of whatever kind, to have the true meaning of Christmas remembered, that the influence of the child Jesus may pervade all the thought of the day. So should it be with Thanksgiving day. To leave God out is to make the day an empty name without meaning. Thanksgiving is nothing if not a glad and reverent lifting of the heart to God in honor and praise for His goodness. As an annual festival it is meant to gather into one day the gratitude of a nation for the favors and mercies of a year. This does not imply that we can put all our thanksgiving for a year into one day. We may not be murmurers for three hundred and sixty-four days, and then atone for our ingratitude by praising and blessing God for one whole day. The normal Christian life is one whose thanksgiving fills every day of the year with song and gladness.”
 
The saying is sometimes incorrectly credited to Robert Casper Lintner, who was a minister.
     
 
Wikipedia: J. R. Miller
James Russell Miller (March 20, 1840 – July 2, 1912) was a popular Christian author, Editorial Superintendent of the Presbyterian Board of Publication, and pastor of several churches in Pennsylvania and Illinois.
 
Google Books
1 April 1903, The Religious Telescope, “Gathered Gems,” pg. 393:
Thanksgiving is nothing, if not a glad and reverent lifting of the heart to God in honor and praise for his goodness.— J. R. Miller.
 
Google Books
Forty Thousand Sublime and Beautiful Thoughts
Compiled by Charles Noel Douglas
New York, NY: The Christian Herald
1915
Pg. 1767:
It should be the aim of Christian people, in all their keeping of the day, whether in the sacred gladness of the home, in public services in church or Sunday-school, or in festivities of whatever kind, to have the true meaning of Christmas remembered, that the influence of the child Jesus may pervade all the thought of the day. So should it be with Thanksgiving day. To leave God out is to make the day an empty name without meaning. Thanksgiving is nothing if not a glad and reverent lifting of the heart to God in honor and praise for His goodness. As an annual festival it is meant to gather into one day the gratitude of a nation for the favors and mercies of a year. This does not imply that we can put all our thanksgiving for a year into one day. We may not be murmurers for three hundred and sixty-four days, and then atone for our ingratitude by praising and blessing God for one whole day. The normal Christian life is one whose thanksgiving fills every day of the year with song and gladness.— J. R. Miller, D. D.
   
Google Books
Words of Wisdom
New York, NY: Gramercy Books
1998
Pg. 171:
Thanksgiving is nothing if not a glad and reverent lifting of the heart to God in honor and praise for His goodness. —James R. Miller (1840-1912)
 
Google Books
365 Days of Thanking God:
Cultivating a Heart of Everyday Thanks
Compiled and edited by Daniella Whyte
Dallas, TX: Torch Legacy Publications
2010
Pg. 135:
“Thanksgiving is nothing if not a glad and reverent lifting of the heart to God in honor and praise for His goodness.”
ROBERT CASPER LINTNER
     
Your Daily Mindjob
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Who the hell is Robert Caspar Lintner?
Thanksgiving is upon us and while many are scrambling to make a flight, cook a turkey, and put up with family members, I’m standing here wondering who the hell Robert Caspar Lintner is.
 
Go ahead, do a Google search. Look on Wikipedia.
 
Nothing.
 
Well, except for the sites which provide two quotes about Thanksgiving. Why do you think I’m asking who this person is in the first place? Yeah. THAT quote is popping up everywhere. It’s almost as if someone made the guy up. There are no other mentions of Robert Caspar Lintner, except in reference to either of the two quotes below.
 
Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day.
and
Thanksgiving is nothing if not a glad and reverent lifting of the heart to God in honor and praise for His goodness.
 
Sayings For Church Signs
Thanksgiving is nothing if not a glad and reverent lifting of the heart to God in honor and praise for His goodness.
By oneyellowadmin   Posted August 27, 2015
 
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‏@Gator_Guards
Happy Thanksgiving , Thanksgiving is nothing if not a glad and reverent lifting of the heart to God in honor and praise for His goodness
9:33 AM - 24 Nov 2016