"Gratitude
can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into
joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings." - William Arthur Ward
I remember the old church song we used to sing, "Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings see what God has done." That
is one of the joys of Thanksgiving. We get to count our blessings, not
our problems. Unfortunately, the busyness of the Holiday Season, the
somewhat gloomy change in the weather, the arduous travel, and for some -
strained relationships with families, can cause us to be distracted
from giving the LORD thanks. The practice of appreciation, especially to God, is a spiritual discipline. We don't ever have to worry if expressing gratitude is out of God's will. "In every thing give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
It's amazing how quickly worry and anxiety can overtake your thought life - even during Thanksgiving season.
We are so used to inwardly rehearsing, outwardly expressing, or somehow
attempting to insulate ourselves from what's wrong; that it's difficult
sometimes to embrace that so much is going right. In fact, we often
fail to recognize just how blessed we are until we encounter someone
worse off than we are.
Philippians 4: 4-9 instructs us not to be
anxious about anything, to pray about everything, and to concentrate on
what's true, honorable, virtuous, lovely and of good report. Thanksgiving should become a life practice. Singer/Songwriter Willie Nelson, whose life has taken may turns said,
"When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around."
So check your discontentment at the door. There is too much to be thankful for. The
connection between contentment and gratitude is compelling.
Is what's wrong in your life as bad as you're making it?
Are you enlarging your difficulties or taking on the problems of
others? Have you become enslaved by a consumer culture where we are
duped into thinking there is never enough, and we're not enough unless
we have...X? Tomorrow: after we eat the kind of gluttonous dinner which
many around the world would only dream of, and after watching parades
and millionaires run after some kind of ball; many of us will still get
up at 3:00 in the morning and fight for TV's and other 'sale' items we
believe we can't do without.
Maybe a valuable change of pace
would be to invest more time than just the prayer before dinner to thank
God and count our blessings.
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