SIMPLE THANKS

SIMPLE THANKS
It’s easy to miss.
Sometimes you don’t see what made it possible.
I mean little things that bring big pleasure.
Like my toast and jam and coffee.
I looked at that toast.
How did it get on my plate?

There was the farmer who sowed the seed, watered and fertilized the wheat, harvested it and took it to the silo for storage; the businessman who sold it to the factory that made it into flower; the truck drivers who transported the wheat and flower; the bakery that made the flower into the bread; the grocery store and the people who stocked it on the shelves for me to buy; the clerk who took my money and gave me change.

There is a spirit of hard work and service behind that toast.

The jam came from grapes that came from vines that took years to grow cared for by the vine grower, harvested, taken to a factory, heated and processed, canned and sent to market, and sold. Every step carried out by hard working people.

Then there were those who made my car to take it home… those who drilled for and refined my gas to run the car… those who paved the roads to get to the store and back…

With a little gratitude, my toast, jam and coffee tasted even better.

Everything around me is a gift. The chair and the desk made from wood harvested by loggers in a dangerous business, and designed by creative minds and made by skilled hands. The light invented by Edison, improved by many others, and powered by electricity from a power plant run by coal mined by courageous men. Then there are the wonders of cell phones, computers, the net, and satellites.

There are the books on my shelves, that have filled my spirit with truth in a world of lies, and the authors who paid the price of experience and discipline to write them long before there was cut and paste. Thank you Mr. Tolstoy, Mr. Pascal, Mr. Muggeridge, Mr. Johnson, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul… you have all brought light into a dark world and made my life better.

And what about the miracles of music, sight, hearing, feeling, thinking, life?

Then there are the people around us – all gifts from God – each making a unique contribution to life – even the ones who test our character and make us stronger.

And how about ultimate thanks to the Creator of it all with out whom we, and all of nature, would not exist? Everything around us began with an idea, a gift from the Source, the loving heart of our Father. The universe itself is a gift from the hand of God for us to enjoy.

Gratitude not only makes toast and jam taste better, but turns on a bright light in a dark world that seeks to receive without thanks.

So look around the room this Thanksgiving. Pick any object: a cup, a fork, a table, a lamp, a pen… Think of the idea that started it, the hands that made it and the people who brought it to us.

Think of the people who have meant the most to you: maybe it is family, friends, a coach, a teacher… Why not take a few minutes this week to thank them and tell them how much we appreciate them. That conversation will be a memory for life.

So as we come on another Thanksgiving, remember…

“The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.” (H.U. Westermayer)