ITS NOT UNCOMMON TO COMPILE A WISH LIST during the Christmas season, or draw up a list of resolutions for the New Year. But there is another list we often overlook—a Thanksgiving Day list. One housewife compiled such a list and it read thusly:
“I am thankful for automatic dishwashers because they make it possible for us to get out of the kitchen before the family comes back in for their after-dinner snacks.
I am thankful for husbands who attack small repair jobs around the house because they usually make them big enough to call in the professionals.
I am thankful for children who put things away and clean up after themselves; they’re such a joy that you hate to see them go home to their own parents.
I am thankful for teenagers because they give parents an opportunity to learn a second language.
I am thankful for smoke alarms because they let you know when the turkey’s done.”
All kidding aside, I’m sure that my list would include the major things such as good health, family, friends, and freedom. It would also have at the very top, my spiritual benefits---my relationship with God, my church family, and the love of God that is showered upon me each day. What about you?
This coming Thursday our nation will again pause to give thanks. And well we should. One would assume that because we have so much in this great land that our hearts would overflow with gratitude. But often just the opposite is true. The more we get, the less thankful we often become and the more we want. Let’s face it, we are a consumer-oriented society, with a great deal of emphasis on “entitlements.” Like that turkey that adorns our tables, we are stuffed---stuffed with things that so consume our time and energy that we don’t have time to reflect on just how blessed we are.
Perhaps you heard about the farmer who visited a large city. In a restaurant before eating, he bowed his head and offered a prayer of thanks. Seeing this, a young man who was seated near him sneeringly asked, “Say old man, back where you come from does everyone pray before he eats?” The farmer quietly replied, “No, the hogs don’t.”
It’s a good thing we have this national holiday because it calls us to remember and reflect. I shudder to think how much more ungrateful we would be as a people if our attention was not drawn to it.
On this special day we should find many reasons to say with the Psalmist, “Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever.”
May I make a suggestion? Why not take some time this Thanksgiving to sit with paper and pen and make a list of all the things you are grateful for. I guarantee you that you will feel better about yourself.
“I am thankful for automatic dishwashers because they make it possible for us to get out of the kitchen before the family comes back in for their after-dinner snacks.
I am thankful for husbands who attack small repair jobs around the house because they usually make them big enough to call in the professionals.
I am thankful for children who put things away and clean up after themselves; they’re such a joy that you hate to see them go home to their own parents.
I am thankful for teenagers because they give parents an opportunity to learn a second language.
I am thankful for smoke alarms because they let you know when the turkey’s done.”
All kidding aside, I’m sure that my list would include the major things such as good health, family, friends, and freedom. It would also have at the very top, my spiritual benefits---my relationship with God, my church family, and the love of God that is showered upon me each day. What about you?
This coming Thursday our nation will again pause to give thanks. And well we should. One would assume that because we have so much in this great land that our hearts would overflow with gratitude. But often just the opposite is true. The more we get, the less thankful we often become and the more we want. Let’s face it, we are a consumer-oriented society, with a great deal of emphasis on “entitlements.” Like that turkey that adorns our tables, we are stuffed---stuffed with things that so consume our time and energy that we don’t have time to reflect on just how blessed we are.
Perhaps you heard about the farmer who visited a large city. In a restaurant before eating, he bowed his head and offered a prayer of thanks. Seeing this, a young man who was seated near him sneeringly asked, “Say old man, back where you come from does everyone pray before he eats?” The farmer quietly replied, “No, the hogs don’t.”
It’s a good thing we have this national holiday because it calls us to remember and reflect. I shudder to think how much more ungrateful we would be as a people if our attention was not drawn to it.
On this special day we should find many reasons to say with the Psalmist, “Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever.”
May I make a suggestion? Why not take some time this Thanksgiving to sit with paper and pen and make a list of all the things you are grateful for. I guarantee you that you will feel better about yourself.
posted by kazookid | 10:53 AM
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