Giving Thanks

Not sure how the lowly turkey gets so much attention at Thanksgiving. Something to do with the pilgrims at Plymouth Rock perhaps, but it has become an enduring symbol of family, food, harvest, and giving thanks. Offering up a prayer at a Thanksgiving meal is a bit of a challenge. Dare one begin a list of things to be thankful for? As a Christian, I know the source of all good gifts and I know who I am thanking, but a list means that we just might forget something or someone. Besides, the list, even though complete, would result in cold food, and one very impatient grandson who not only is anxious to chow down, but wants to do the praying himself.

Gratitude is an attitude and you either are or you are not thankful. I have posted before how I lay my head down on the pillow at night and begin to be grateful. It is a great stress reliever, and an attitude adjuster. When in a truly thankful mode, one finds it incredible just how much there is to be thankful for. And it goes way beyond the physical things in life. Actually, those are the least significant of all things to give thanks for, but nevertheless, important.

This weekend I am particularly thankful that we had an opportunity to spend a day with my nephew and his two small children after they took wife and mother to the airport where she flew to Italy for a few days. Why am I thankful for this? It was not that long ago that 'M' was given a death sentence with a deadly strain of cancer that was coursing through his body. Today he is as healthy a specimen as you will ever see, having beaten the cancer in spite of the doctors and the health care system. With a lot of prayer and a change in diet, he beat it, and he just informed us that his dad, whose cancer prognosis also was grave, has recently been given a clean bill of health, again without the aid of doctor's chemo or radiation. As I sat visiting with him, his two beautiful children at his side, I could not help but be grateful for life itself, and for healing. What are you grateful for today?