l Thank ... Who?

A  preacher told about a lady who was an atheist. One morning she and a friend stepped out into the glories of a beautiful fall morning. As she beheld the brilliant sun peeking through the haze and the frost on the meadow and the brightly colored leaves lazilydrifting to the ground, she was filled with the beauty and wonder of it all. Seemingly unable to restrain her wonder, gushed to her friend, “I am so thankful. I’m just so grateful for it all.” And her believing friend asked, “Grateful to whom, my dear?”

 Really, who do we thank “for it all”? Our lucky stars?” Karma? The so-called Big Bang? The Undirected chance and fate? Who do we thank on Thanksgiving (or any other) Day for the delightful and delicious sights and smells and tastes of a fabulous meal provided with little or no effort on our part? Do we thank and praise the platters that hold the mountains of food? Or the stove that cooked it? Or the grocery store where it was purchased? Or the turkey for sacrificing itself? No — we thank the one / ones who provided the meal; the one who bought the supplies, baked and boiled and fried and arranged the feast. We thank the hosts who put in all the labor, be it Mom and / or Grandma or whoever. If we are thoughtful, we thank her / him / them for the love behind it all! Going further, if we look around in our world and think about what we see, logic compels us to agree with this little piece of prose attributed to Maltie Babcock: “Back of the loaf is the snowy flour, And back of the flour the mill. And back of the mill is the wheat and the shower, and the sun and the Father's will.” Maltie nailed it. At the end of the day our thanksgiving has to go to God. In the words of Psalm 68:19 (New King James Version): “Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah.” The New Testament writer James acknowledged God above as the giver of “every good and perfect gift” (James 1:17).

 Ravi Zacharias, in his book Can Man Live Without God? (p 86), noted the fact that America as a culture traditionally sets aside one day a year to say “Thank You” to God. But he went on to bemoan the fact that, thanks to the skeptic, “Thanksgiving Day has been reduced to Turkey Day.” He then quoted G. K. Chesterton (p 88) who wrote these challenging words: “I suppose it is like this. If my children wake up on Christmas morning and have somebody to thank for putting candy in their stocking, have I no one to thank for putting two feet in mine?”

 English writer, poet, moralist and critic Samuel Johnson (did 1709-17840 said, “Gratitude is a fruit of great cultivation; you do not find it among gross people.” It is to be feared that America as a culture is populated by many gross people. In what is arguably the most materially blessed nation in history, grumbling is cultivated far more than gratitude. Let it be said with love but let it be said loud and clear and without blinking that God’s people of all people will be careful to cultivate gratitude. To fail to do so is to fail to be God’s people. Let us say ‘thank you’ often to one another. But always, every day, in every time and place, first and foremost, and without shame or reservation let us say it often and out loud — thank ... God!

 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” – 2 Corinthians 9:15

                                 Dan Gulley, Smithville TN