Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and this is a fitting hymn to sing on Thanksgiving Day…
For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth over and around us lies
Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.
I think it was in elementary school that I learned this hymn in music class—can you imagine they taught a thing like that “For the Beauty of the Earth” in public school back in the 50’s? I recall that our class learned it for a Thanksgiving play. And the words are so fitting – it’s all about giving thanks to God. You know I learned early on in my disability how important it is to say “thank you.” I mean, so many people do so many things for me; they do things to me. Now, I consider myself a pretty independent woman, and I like to do as much as I can for myself as is possible. But still someone has to pour the coffee, empty my leg bag, help me to bed, help me out of bed, get me dressed, brush hair, brush teeth, blow nose and I’m quick to say, “Thank you for doing that.” And I mean it. What’s more, I say it a lot.
Well, I remember the time when my friend, Judy, came into my office and asked if she could borrow $10. I was busy doing something else and I absent-mindedly said, “Sure, take it out of my wallet” which she did. When I heard my purse snap shut, I automatically said in a cheery voice, "Thank you." Judy gave me the strangest look and another friend standing with me said, “What did you thank her for? She’s the one who ought to thank you.”
It was an odd thing for me to say—thank you to someone who’s borrowing something, taking something. But when I thought about why I responded so automatically I realized that I’m just programmed to say thank you whenever anyone “does” anything to me like gives me a drink, empties my leg bag, or feeds me lunch, it’s an automatic—thank you!
I sure wish I were that way with the Lord. Wouldn’t it be nice if we were programmed to be grateful? Like it were automatic—countless of times, without thinking … oh that we would say, ‘Thank you, Jesus, for this and for that’ even when … no, especially when it seems God is taking something away rather than giving it.
Friend, today is Thanksgiving—a day of gratitude to God for all the many blessings of this life. And of all the things God wants to do in your life, one of the most important is for you to cultivate a spirit of gratitude. Because remember, we’re told in Romans chapter 1, verse 21 that one of the reasons God gave men over to their sinful ways was because they failed to be grateful. Hey, I don’t want to be in that camp! So today, this evening, right now or around your dinner table celebrate Thanksgiving by take time to express out loud your heartfelt gratitude to God. Psalm 107, verse 31 says, “Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.” Two things in that verse: Give thanks to the Lord for who He is and give thanks to the Lord for what He has done. Today on Thanksgiving, this is definitely something to program into your heart! This is something you want to do on automatic—be grateful!
© Joni and Friends, 2012
Compliments of Joni and Friends
PO Box 3333 Agoura Hills, CA 91376