Be Thankful. Um, no.
November 26th, 2008 by Steve
I don’t want anyone to tell me to “be thankful” this Thanksgiving.
Telling someone to “be thankful” is like hearing from your parents to “be grateful” or your friends telling you to “be happy.”
We don’t take commands like that too well because, let’s face it, we’re not robots. We don’t turn on and off like that.
And honestly, if someone tells me to “be thankful”… I think I’m going to resist it, or not be very thankful for that person’s comment.
So… I’ll end up NOT be thankful, which is probably the wrong attitude during Thanksgiving.
So what if we all were to watch our souls this Thanksgiving weekend and catch a glimpses of our thankfulness as it sneaks up on us…
A meal… thanks.
A friend… thanks.
A conversation… thanks.
A kind word… thanks.
A day to live… thanks.
A breath to breathe… thanks.
A run in the snow… thanks.
A smiling child… thanks.
A content parent… thanks.
A pumpkin pie with too much whipping cream… thanks.
A phone call from far away… thanks.
Maybe “thanksgiving” isn’t a command as much as it is a deliberate awareness of our surroundings and of the common gifts we receive everywhere, all the time.
These gifts are from a generous God, who smiles when we stumble into thankfulness and whispers warmly… “You’re welcome.”
Happy Thanksgiving.
