It is now November and our thoughts become more focused on Thanksgiving Day and its call to be thankful. Last week I stated that an attitude of gratitude is of supreme importance in our aging well.
However, I am convinced that an attitude of gratitude is not only important for aging well, but is also vital to our living well. The apostle Paul admonishes us to “Rejoice always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
It has been correctly said that most people fall into two classes; those who take things for granted and those who take things with gratitude.
I think you would agree that whenever we sit down to a table to eat a meal, we have two options about the way we partake of what is put before us, and the choice we make says a lot about our attitude toward life in general.
We can approach the meal with a negative spirit, wishing we were at a different table, critical of the way the food is cooked, unhappy about what we are being served. Or we can sit down with gratitude and appreciation that a meal has been provided for us and choose to enjoy whatever has been set before us.
I believe we have the same two options when we sit down at the table of life. We humans are never free to determine what life will be set before us, but we are free to decide how we will partake of it, whether with resentment or with gratitude.
We can either partake resentfully and bitterly of the events set before us, or we can respond with a positive attitude and gratefully accept whatever is set before us. And the way we choose to receive all of life events, whether they be refreshing or difficult, big or small, makes a vast difference in the way we experience or do not experience God’s presence and blessings.
It is a grateful spirit and thankful heart that discovers blessings in what most others take for granted. Richard P. Johnson, PhD, a speaker and writer regarding ministry to senior adults, writes “When we take things for granted, we dismiss them as ordinary because we see them as so commonplace that we fail to notice them at all. When we take things for granted, we transform miracles into nothingness, and, in so doing, we erase virtue from our lives. When we are presumptuous, we lack hope, and when we lack hope, we move into despair. So many persons suffering from sickness move into despair. They have taken their good health for granted. When sickness strikes, they rail against the forces and causes of it, wring their hands, and shake their fists at God for allowing such a terrible thing to befall them. Yet, what response do they make in thanksgiving for the many years they have enjoyed in good health?”
I read about one psychiatrist who prescribes a simple six-week cure to any person who is depressed. He instructs his patients to say “Thank you” whenever anyone does them a favor of any kind, and they are to emphasize the words with a smile. The doctor reports that 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 doctor further reports that two results flow from his treatment, 1) the patient becomes less discouraged, and 2) persons who associate with the patient become more active in their affirming words and good deeds toward the patient.
Why would we ever expect a different result? A basic principle of life is that whenever thanks is given to another, it has a boomerang effect of returned appreciation and favor.
On the tombstone of her husband’s grave, a southern mountain woman had chiseled in rough and uneven letters this epitaph, “He always appreciated.” I really hope that such a tribute can be said about me and you after our deaths.
During this Thanksgiving season and in every season of the year, let’s join the Psalmist in reminding ourselves to “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” (Psalm 103:2).
“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – November 6, 2019
Ray M. Geigley
Healing Rays of Righteousness 
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