From the Pastor's Pen

“I will praise the name of God with song, And shall magnify Him with thanksgiving” (Psalm 69:30). There are many things we fail to realize the true value of until they are missing from our lives. A few weeks ago I had a slight cold that led into the flu. Sometimes I wonder why I don’t have as much energy as I did ten years ago, but being sick and weak made me appreciate the health I do have today. Think of technology, the internet, and your cell phone. Recently our internet was out for ten days! Being without it left an unbelievable gap in our days. We don’t realize how vital it is to our modern lifestyle until we have to go days without it. this past weekend we lost water pressure. Living in the country, we are dependent on our well for water. Within hours we had no water at all. And of course this happened on Friday evening, but fortunately we were able to get someone out the next morning. Being without water meant no showers, no laundry, brushing your teeth was a challenge, and the worst of all, we couldn’t flush the toilets! Health, technology, water. All things we take for granted every day, don’t even think about them until they are gone. Perhaps we need to be more thankful for the things we do have. The people of the Bible, Jews and Christians, understood this because they had a sense that life was a gift. A gift from a benevolent Creator. A gift to be preserved, cared for, celebrated. Patterns and traditions developed to create a people of thanksliving. The sukkoth or harvest festivals. The year of jubilee, when all debts would be forgiven and land returned to its original owner. The Sabbath, so people would take one day to rest and pray and learn how Sabbath was to permeate every day. Thanksliving is an inner quality, a way of looking at life. There is a Dennis the Menace cartoon showing Dennis and his little pal Joey sitting on the porch steps eating a plate of cookies. Dennis says, “Mrs. Wilson doesn’t give us cookies because we deserve it. She gives us cookies because she is nice.” Thanksliving is living in the present tense. The present moment is what we have. Jesus said tomorrow has enough worries, love this day. An attitude of Thanksliving is greeting each day with gratitude regardless of what it may bring. When we wake up, or on rising each morning, can we say with the psalmist, “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad?” Hopefully we can. Gratefulness is the heart of prayer, and its aim is to promote love today and each day of our lives. Can we find something to be thankful for in the present moment? Meister Eckhart said, “If you only said one prayer and it was thanks, it would be enough.” Gratitude is living a life of thanksliving regardless of what life brings to us. It is being thankful in the midst of illness and misfortune, when things don’t go the way we plan, when loved ones die and relationships disappoint us. That is the spirit of thanksliving. Take some time today to thank God for the good things in your life. If you are well, thank Him. If you have a problem, thank Him for the friend that helped you. If you have loved ones, thank Him. A thankful heart brings happiness and peace. Amen. Pastor Carol Quinn North Freedom and Denzer United Methodist Churches