When You Arise in the Morning

When you arise in the morning,
give thanks for the morning light,
give thanks for your food and the joy of living

If you see no reason for giving thanks,
the fault lies in yourself.

-Tecumseh

The reason that I think this poem fits into its contemporary context is, how Tecumseh is giving thanks for the simple things such as sunlight, food and life. Being a Native American that lived from 1768 - 1813, he couldn't go out to a grocery and buy a pack of light bulbs and basic food. He would have reallied on the sun for most of his light and probably would have had to hunt for his food. Living in a time when the average life was around 45 years long (as his was), life was relatively short.

How can this be applied to today? People have a tendency to get caught up in the complication of life and loose focus of the good and simple things. People have tendency to take things such as sunlight, food and life for granted. He says "If you see no reason for giving thanks,the fault lies in yourself". People tend to get angry at the world for their own problems, and he is essentially saying, that if you can't find things to be thankful for, then you are the one that has problems, not the world.

A piece of literature that I can connect this to would be from the Bible, in the book of Psalms, which was mainly written by the man who eventually became King David of Israel. Prior to becoming King, David was pursued by the army of his predecessor, who had ordered him to be killed. While being pursued by this army, David thanked God for simple things. For instance when he said "He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He Leads me beside still waters".