Count your blessings
Thanksgiving is the holiday to follow the song’s advice: “Count your many blessings name them one by one. And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” It’s not hard for us to count our blessings, is it? For many people Thanksgiving marks the beginning of that five week Holy season in which gluttony is transformed from sin to sacrament.
Count your blessings one by one. The Bible commands gratitude from us saying: “Enter His gates with thanksgiving for the Lord is good” (Ps. 100:4-5). It is in the act of thankfulness that we are opened up to the presence of God. Paul writes: “In prayers and petitions, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phi. 4:6-7). It is in giving thanks that we are filled with the peace of God.
Regardless if they were healthy, chronically ills or filled with chronic pain research has proven that people who count their blessings and who have dropped their worry thoughts are happier and physically and mentally healthier than those people who count their blessings on their fingers and their miseries on a calculator. People with a spirit of gratitude stop to smell the flowers while the pickle puss smells flowers and immediately looks for a coffin. People with a spirit of gratitude are less stressed and therefore feel more deeply, listen more insightfully, love more deeply, give more lavishly, encourage more lovingly and care more soulfully than people who count their hassles instead of their blessings.
“Count your many blessings, name them one by one. And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” Count your blessings and be “filled with the peace of God.” A Swedish proverb says: “Those who wish to sing can always find a song.” Therefore if you burn the turkey give thanks because Salmonella won’t be a concern. Catch the spirit of thanksgiving because with a burned turkey Uncle George will eat less and then will be less likely to walk around with his pants unbuttoned. Count your blessings, name them one by one and if you do then on Thursday and every day you will be able to say: “Thanks be to God.”