Remember the Meaning in the Name

With the commercialization and hoopla surrounding Thanksgiving, it is easy to forget the reason for the gathering, which is found in the name itself:  THANKS GIVING.

This is a day we take to GIVE THANKS God for the wonderful lives we experience every day, which includes so many gifts from God that we now take for granted.

We also GIVE THANKS to those who prepare that wonderful meal and who make the effort to gather together, and to those who extended the invitations.

We GIVE THANKS to everyone, near or far, who has been part of our lives over the past year.

We have all become accustomed to living in a country where a cornucopia of foods no longer seems a miracle, because we can go to a nearby grocery store and fill our carts beyond overflowing, simply charging it on our iPhones or credit cards.

Yes, we must have earned the money that pays for it by the our monthly bills come around, but for most of us, that does not require back-breaking labor in inhumane conditions.

Serfs and slaves of a thousand years ago barely subsisted, wondering if by the end of winter, they would have enough to eat.

But God gives us this day, our daily bread, a true miracle for which we should be GIVING THANKS every day.

The least we can do is to be grateful this one day...and then slip off into a nap while watching a football game on that modern miracle we call TV.

Happy Thanksgiving!

And Thank You!

Wes

P.S. If you don't know how to give thanks, here is a prayer I learned from good authority on the subject.  It's a good way to start.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name.

Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen

 

If you repeat that a few times daily, you will be amazed by the miracles that unfold in your life.  For now, try it for Thanksgiving.