Psalm 100 "Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. For the Lord is good, his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations." (NRSV, of the Holy Bible)
When I started to understand the value of gratitude, I was astounded at how much so little of [it], helped. Of course there are aspects of nature, food, beauty, life's challenges / opportunities, inspirational stories & people, spiritual precepts, work, shelter and so much more that heighten my awareness to be grateful, in spite of pandemic, imperfect existence and / or troubled days. For me, it's community that enhances the quality of that existence, even when that body of people adds up to only my Lord and me. One phase of my spiritual well-being taught me to do the alphabet, as I lay me down to sleep, finding a person, place or thing to be appreciative of, beginning with each letter! Now, we are the sheep of His pasture, and 'Q' & 'Z' are tough, but that seemingly trite mental work-out served me immeasurably when I let go, let God in and stopped counting the bleating wooly ones. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your "grateful-ness"? Are you able to find something positive, hidden within a difficult situation? I ask this based in your reality rather than any fictitious nebulous intangible. Rev. Marlayna's grandmother's displaying of a 7 yr.-old's Thank-you card on her mantle is tangible evidence that still impacts our Pastor's espousing the value of being grateful several decades later.
So this season, although my gratitude list contains a couple of 'things', it's primarily about people, as in grateful for: being encouraged to relate weekly scripture to life as it unfolds; daughters Astrid and Trudy and their husbands bearing grand-kids Abel & Jada; brothers Mike & Jean upgrading our ancient heating system; niece Geralyn and spouse Sam facilitating a virus-safe Summer week on the Cape; the virus itself bringing spouse and I to have the Death & Faith conversation that accentuated our gratitude, reinforced our bond by our "knowing that the Lord is [our] God" (v. 2 above); daughter Trina coming closer again while sharing her struggles and hope; brother Glenn's truth about the reality of his Parkinson's battle; receiving verbal 'I love you(s)', prayerful care and acceptance from all six of our kids & their significant others; on-going connected-ness to our Church family despite social distance while continuing the quest to serve like Jesus; the grace granted me to own my part and avert a major rift in my family of origin; the joy of witnessing the development of a quiver-full of youngsters, to list a few. How 'bout you? Can you see everything as a gift, from which learning and growth may spawn? Someone once told me that if my only ever spoken prayer was: "thank-you", it'd suffice...
Bless you & yours this season, for the Lord is good, his faithfulness endures! Kevin T. for the Deacons.