A Flash from Thanksgiving Past...

During my first year in seminary, I wrote this little piece, which was printed in the February 1985 edition of Monday Morning, a devotional for Presbyterian pastors:

ON BEING THANKFUL...

Every Sunday morning, when I lead the pastoral prayer in our church, I tack on a list of things for which we can be thankful to God. I try to be creative with the list of "thank yous," but often I find that I quickly run out of things for which to praise the Lord. That is until recently.

During a field education banquet at our seminary, a woman told about her experiences working in a center for the handicapped and disabled. She told of a time when she had some disabled children make a litany of thanksgiving--things for which they are thankful to God. A tear of revelation and joy came to my eye as she read a list that included things like "Thank you, God, for being able to stand up." And "Thank you, God, that Aaron (presumably a brother or friend) is alive." Wow! How do we miss such precious things? Things like "Thank you, God, that Jesus is alive," or "Thank you, God, for the gift of speech." How about "Thank you, God, for giving such powerful insight to these 'handicapped' little ones"? They have given me a new outlook on praise and thanksgiving!

This past week, when many of us were inconvenienced by being without power for a day or two, I thought about those folks in California who left everything behind to be consumed by fire, or those families who lost loved ones in the wildfires. How fortunate we were that our "suffering" was so minor and so temporary. I guess being thankful is a relative thing.

As we approach another national day of Thanksgiving, may we say a prayer not just for our own "thanksgivings," but for those who are caught up in a seemingly endless loop of challenge or tragedy. May we pray that they, too, soon will be able to give thanks for their deliverance.

Be safe, Beloved. Be well. And be thankful. Shalom!