As I mentioned in my post last week, I am increasingly convinced that learning to be thankful to God and to one another is crucial to our well-being as individuals and as communities. It is probably just about as important to learn to be thankful to what we call “nature” or what the Bible calls “creation,” especially if we remember that its gifts—like those from other individuals—are also gifts from our Creator. We have much to learn from many of our American Indian brothers and sisters on this score.
Today, I want to interact with one more challenge concerning being a thankful people, which appears a number of times in the Bible. Here are two of many quotations we could cite from the Bible:
Philippians 4:4”Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in the Messiah Jesus.” (more…)
