November 2008

Thanksgiving this month conjures up in us all kinds of feelings and emotions. It will be nice this year to host the Conshohocken Ministerium Thanksgiving Eve Service at St. Mark’s.

The idea of Thanksgiving is expressed in many ways.

The humorist writes: A man complained to a friend, "I don't know what I have to be thankful for. I owe everybody and I'm flat broke." Said the friend, "Then be thankful you are not one of your creditors."

The Bible writer Saint Paul writes: "give thanks in all circumstances".

The critic writes, "It's a sad commentary on our society that the chief symbol of Thanksgiving has shifted from the living God to a dead turkey."

The poet writes:
"Still our heartfelt thanks begin
For the good days that have been,
For the loved ones we now see,
And the good things yet to be."

The philosopher writes, "There is a sense in which no gift is ours until we have thanked the giver".

I like this one: "Thanksgiving is a quality of character without which we miss life's central melody".

No matter how you want to say it, an attitude of Thanksgiving needs to be a part of our everyday lives as God's people. I know of no simpler way to say it than: "We have so much to be thankful for!"

Pastor Olson