The Road To: Gratitude Reflections

The road to: Gratitude Reflections

Well, we’ve just celebrated Thanksgiving.  Looking back a year ago, I posted the story of the origins of Thanksgiving celebrations and focused on gratitude. Wow, what an interesting re-reflection a year makes! Our Prayer Blog is now a year old and we have posted 28 individual prayer devotionals on many different items. I am thankful for this opportunity to focus on different topics and especially on gratitude – we don’t do that often enough.

235 years ago (1789) George Washington established (by proclamation) the first official national Thanksgiving holiday.  What were people thankful for then? According to Google, they were thankful for religious freedom, prosperity and civil liberty.  Here’s Washington’s opening statement in the proclamation:

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.” 

What do you think we (as a nation and as individuals) are thankful for this year (2024)? Are we thankful? How does thankfulness show?  By parades? By shopping (e.g., Black Friday)? By the long weekend? I repeat part of  Washington's opening sentence: ”Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits…”  Whoa, how are shopping and parades consistent with this? Historically people’s gratitude was for harvests, military victories, ship landings, drought endings, etc. The feasts in 1621 lasted for three days; maybe ours do too, with “leftovers?”

What were you grateful for this past year?  Have the things you are grateful for changed over this year?  Can you tell us more, and why you think those changes occurred? (please comment below)  Not to create guilt, but look again at that first Washington sentence – did we acknowledge the providence of God, obey His will, and be grateful for His benefits? Think about that (if you can overcome the noise/aftermath of election season).

Imagine you are planting some seeds in your garden, and each seed is a seed of hope.  If we water and feed that seed of hope, aren’t we likely to grow a garden of hope? The same goes for gratitude. Planning, watering and feeding a garden (or life) of gratitude can positively affect our mental health, our relationships and general satisfaction with our lives. That’s the garden (life) I want.  What stands in our way of doing that?  How can we overcome negative thinking with positive thinking? How can we inspire others to be grateful? 

Finally, we come to prayer, after all this is a prayer blog! Prayer is a perfect opportunity to reflect on many of the questions above. It is a perfect opportunity to change our thinking, and refocus our plans and actions. It’s like having a precious stone, like a Sapphire.  You have to soak it in soapy water, scrub it gently with a moist towel, then dry it with a dry towel.  Isn't prayer like that?  We can soak our thinking by investing time in prayer, scrub our thinking by asking/considering difficult questions, and sharing our thoughts with God. Our prayers are precious, like the precious stone!

How do your prayers of gratitude help you connect with God?  Does your prayer of thanks help you better understand where you find meaning in your life?  (comments?)

I usually sign off with “Praying for you”.  And I am praying for you – I’m thanking God for you, for your commitment to community, your commitment to Community Presbyterian Church, your commitment to helping others, and to supporting so many needs in our community and in the world.

Keep on praying!

PB

Community Presbyterian Church
32202 Del Obispo
San Juan Capistrano. CA 92675
949-493-1502 
info@sjcpres.org