This week, here in America, we have the privilege of being able to live in a land that has much for which to be thankful. Let us consider a few of these things as we start the week. Maybe it will help each of us just a little bit to be a little more mindful of being thankful than we have been in recent years.
During the holidays, it is hard to cut through all of the crass commercialism that normally threatens to swallow families, chew them up, and spit them out on the other side. Credit cards are maxed for everything from that special Black Friday offering to gifts, some of which were not wanted or maybe even not very much appreciated.
With that, I would like to share a few reminders of things for which you and I can be thankful every day.
- Food to eat – Not gathered scraps from the trash heaps
- Clean water – Not murky, yellow-colored that can kill you
- Jobs to go to that pay a decent wage (not $1 per day for 12-14 hours of work)
- Education system (primary, high school, and college)
- Clothes to wear – More than one set
- Roof to keep us dry – Not a decaying tin roof
- Electricity and gas to keep us warm and cook our food
- Vehicles to use so we don’t have to walk miles to work
- Freedom to worship on any day we choose
- Grocery stores filled with anything we choose to eat
- Pets to bring comfort
- Good medical staff and medicine to help us from dying at a young age like they do in West Africa
- Military who protect our freedoms and keep foreign troops from invading
Yes, this is just a handful of things for which we can all be thankful. I challenge each of you who read this to take a piece of paper and just take time to be thankful. You and I will never fully understand the meaning of gratitude and joy until we have learned to be thankful for even the small things of life.
