Healing Rays of Righteousness

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God‘s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, a day set aside for us to reflect and give thanks for God’s goodness toward us during the past year.  Maybe the year did not go as we had hoped.  Maybe it was a very difficult year of disappointments, painful sufferings, and grievous losses.  Even so, I believe there is always much for which we can be and should be thankful.

I’m reminded of the boy in elementary school who arrived late to school and was reprimanded for it.  Later, he discovered that he had forgotten his homework, and was scolded again.  Then he began to feel sick, and ran in from the playground to go home.  And as he ran, he tripped and fell, breaking his arm.  While he was on the ground, he found a quarter.  Later, going home from the doctor’s office he told his parents, “This is the best day of my life!  I have never found a quarter before.”

We all need to cultivate that kind of grateful spirit so that we can see and acknowledge the good things that happen to us and be more thankful, even when much is going wrong for us.

The most important attitude that we can ever cultivate in our life is the attitude of gratitude, of being thankful in all circumstances.  A grateful attitude causes our life to open up like a flower, full of beauty and sweet fragrance.  And it causes our life to become filled with joy and pleasant surprises because we more readily see God blessing us in so many wonderful ways.

Health research consistently shows that people who count their blessings sleep better, are more active, and care more about others.  Furthermore, people who are daily counting their blessings, show significant improvements in mental, physical, and spiritual health.  And these results are true regardless of your age or life situation.

Every situation of pain and/or loss has the potential for us to cultivate a spirit of gratitude or resentment.  Every problem provides an opportunity for stronger faith and new relationships, or for frustration and despair.  The need for surgery can make us dread the pain or thank God for the surgeon’s skills.  Stormy weather can create dreary complaints or gratitude for the sunny days.  The death of a spouse can produce a terror of the future or a song of thanksgiving for memories of ten thousand shared joys.  A grateful heart discovers blessings in what the discontented, resentful heart overlooks or takes for granted.

I read of a psychiatrist who prescribes a simple cure to his depressed patients, which they are to use for six weeks.  He instructs his patients to say “Thank you” whenever anyone does them a favor and they are to emphasize their words with a smile.

He reports that often the common reply is, “But, doctor, no one ever does any favors for me.”  And the doctor responds, “That’s why you are sick.  You don’t look for reasons to be thankful.”

The psychiatrist reports that two good results flow from this treatment – the patient becomes less discouraged, and persons who associate with the patient become more active in their affirming words and good deeds toward the patient.

Truly, it is a basic principle of life – thanks given to another person has a boomerang effect of appreciation and favor being returned.  It is amazing to see what happens to us when we cultivate the habit of always saying “Thank you” to others, and to God in every situation and circumstance we may find ourselves.

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess. 5:16-18).

Snoopy is getting his usual dog food for his Thanksgiving Day dinner and he is aware that everyone else in the family is inside the house having turkey.  He thinks about this and talks to himself – “How about that?  Everyone is eating turkey today, but just because I’m a dog I get dog-food.”  He trots away and positions himself on top of his doghouse and then gratefully concludes, “Of course, it could be worse.  I could have been born a turkey.”

Yes, and I repeat, the most important attitude that we can ever cultivate in our life, is the “attitude of gratitude”, of being thankful in all circumstances.  An “attitude of gratitude” will both bless us and others.

I remember hearing of a southern mountain woman who had chiseled in rough and uneven letters on her husband’s tombstone, this epitaph, “He always appreciated.”

I hope that this same tribute can be said about you and me after our deaths.  But for that to happen we need to join the Psalmist in reminding ourselves, “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” (Ps. 103:2).  And so, beginning today, let us discipline ourselves in cultivating a truly grateful heart and mind.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – November 21, 2018