“As Jesus was entering a village, ten people with leprosy met him. Keeping their distance, they raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Rabbi, have pity on us.” When Jesus saw them, he responded, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going, they were healed.
One of the lepers realizing what had happened, turned back and thanked Jesus. Jesus replied, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one else going to return and thank God but this one?” — Luke 17:12-18
Well, here we go again. Thanksgiving will be celebrated this coming Thursday.
Thanksgiving has become a day to express gratitude for the blessings in our lives, often celebrated by gathering with family and friends to share a meal and reflect on positive aspects of our lives, like health, loved ones, and personal achievements.
As we approach this national day to give thanks, we may or may not feel like expressing our gratitude. As a people, we are much better at complaining than expressing thankfulness for what we have.
Our hardships may be small compared to our blessings, but they are still painful and demanding. Most of us in this privileged Western world are in the unique position to view our sufferings as the exception rather than the rule, while our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world experience heartbreak and a much more challenging daily life.
However, even our first-world problems impact our happiness and create discouragement and disappointment for us. Unbelievably slow service at the drive-thru or a poor selection of pant sizes at Kohl’s can ruin our day.
So how do we cultivate a thankful life? How do we rise from our doubt and pain and celebrate a day of giving thanks and expressing gratitude when we don’t really feel like it?
Well, I think we start by recognizing that life can feel like a dumpster fire at times. AND life can feel amazing and miraculous at times.
There will be bad times and bad things that happen to us. There will be amazing, joyful surprises that happen to us.
Therefore, we need to:
NOTICE
Recognize the good and admit that it exists. We have comfy beds, hot coffee, shoes on our feet. Every grace that we can count is a deposit in our joy bank.
2. EXPRESS
Once we’ve acknowledged the good, we might try to express our gratitude for it. For the cynics among us, this will feel unnatural or fake, but it is important to not keep gratefulness to ourselves. When we tell others about why we are feeling grateful, our joy is multiplied. So is theirs. AND everyone involved begins to look for future good moments.
Finally, there is a challenge step.
3. CHALLENGE
What if we start our day as a treasure hunt with the goal of identifying as many specific gratitude gems as possible? I heard a great song when I woke up, I have hot water. I have a dishwasher that does the work for me. You get the idea. Then we could try to top our number the next day.
Finding and expressing our gratitude has an undeniable impact on our lives.
Author, William Arthur Ward has said:
“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” ~ William Arthur Ward
Now, I think that saying “thank you” for simple, kind actions seems to be fading from our cultural norms. Have you noticed this? For some reason, this bugs me. I think it bugs me because it is a simple phrase that takes very little time to say, but people don’t always say it.
Someone drops an item on the floor and another person picks it up and hands it to them. A simple “thank you” is a beautiful acknowledgment that someone exerted effort for someone else.
I am one of those people who like to let other cars in, because I feel their pain. I slow down, motion for the car to pull in front of me, and in the perfect scenario, the driver looks at me, pulls into traffic, and then gives me a wave of gratitude. When I don’t get that wave, I feel a little empty inside.
And that is a small gesture of kindness compared to the Bible story about the ten lepers — one of my favorite stories. It goes like this:
“As Jesus was entering a village, ten people with leprosy met him. Keeping their distance, they raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Rabbi, have pity on us.” When Jesus saw them, he responded, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going, they were healed.
One of the lepers realizing what had happened, turned back and thanked Jesus. Jesus replied, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one else going to return and thank God but this one?” — Luke 17:12-18
It’s a great story that shows human nature. Sometimes we forget to say thanks. Sometimes we start to, and then the moment passes. Saying “thank you” isn’t just good manners. It’s good practice. It keeps us humble.
Staying thank you makes us feel more optimistic, and encourages compassion, kindness, and love. Saying thank you helps us to fully appreciate our blessings.
A doctor wrote a letter of thanks to a schoolteacher because she gave him so much encouragement when he had been in her class 30 years before.
He later received this reply: "I want you to know what your note meant to me. I am an older lady in my eighties, living alone in a small room, cooking my meals, and sometimes feeling lonely.
You will be interested to know that I taught school for 50 years, and yours is the first letter of appreciation I have ever received. It came on a cold, blue morning and cheered my lonely old heart as nothing has cheered me in many years."
So not just on Thanksgiving Day, but on any day, let’s take time today to say thank you to someone who has blessed our lives. We will never know what a difference we can make in someone who needs a word of encouragement.
Oprah Winfrey has stated: “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” — Oprah Winfrey
Especially this Thanksgiving Day, let’s try to remember to say thank you. To the family members around the table, to our friends who have stood by us, and to God — for loving us, for giving us life, people to love, and people who love us. Amen.
Evangelist, Billy Graham once wrote these words:
“Nothing turns us into bitter, selfish, dissatisfied people more quickly than an ungrateful heart. And nothing will do more to restore contentment and joy…than a true spirit of thankfulness.” — Billy Graham
It is my prayer that we will all be surprised by how much thankfulness and gratitude we can feel this Thanksgiving and all of the days that follow it.
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