Gratitude

Psalm 30:1a, 2, 11-12, "I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths.....O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me......"You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever."

Gibran, in his book The Prophet, wrote, "The deeper sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain."

It is relatively easy to be grateful for the things that make our lives happier--home, family, friends, food, clothes, etc. But we can also be thankful for the absence of things that would make our lives less pleasant. After a tragedy in her life, my friend Mildred Phillips once said, "I am thankful for every normal day I have," and so am I.

Are you hungry? Thirsty? Homeless? Lame? Blind? Deaf? Sad? Grieving? Sick? In pain? Dying? One of the most wonderful things about heaven will be the absence of sickness, sorrow, pain and death, but if we had not known those things on earth we would not be able to appreciate and enjoy the absence of those things in heaven. And it is when we have known some of those things on earth that we can be really grateful when they pass on. So today may we praise God not only for the good gifts which He has bestowed upon us but also for the hard things and the sad things He has helped us through.

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You so much for the blessings you have lavished upon us. Thank You, too, for the difficulties You have already brought us through and for the absence of all sickness and sorrow and pain and death in the forever home which You have prepared for us. Amen.