Give Thanks


"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endures forever!" (Psalm 118:1)


I cannot forget even now, a voice from my earliest memories urging, "Say Thank You, Baby.  Say Thank You."  Expressed gratitude could be gauged by the inflection in the voice and loving face that instructed.  Even, of course, when the words carried minimal meaning to a kid.  Soon, however, I made connections between a gift and the proper response.  Thank You, with an upper case "Y" identified God from a relative, close friend, or well-wisher.  Recited with proper reverence and respect.

"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" 
(1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Proper "manners" ranked high in expected behaviors during childhood, until expectations insinuated themselves in the warp and woof of life.  Sunday School classes reinforced gratitude, along with bedtimes stories vividly recounted by my grandmother, a born keeper of family and cultural history.  Expressions of gratitude became as natural as "Yes Ma'am, No, Ma'am, and Please."  Good manners reflected "good home training," something which parents took great pride in. 

What causes forgetting or rejecting the customs, mores, expected behaviors,  precedents, and traditions that comprise much of one's culture? Do they drop away like feather-molting birds or unwanted dandruff? Or does amnesia come with the passage of years? I don't know.  Members of my childhood church used to sing, "Let us all go back to the old Landmark and we'll stay on the service of the Lord."  Maybe.

A childhood bedtime prayer memorized early, affirmed gratitude and hope: "Now I lay me down to sleep.  I pray the Lord my soul to keep.  If I should die before I wake.  I pray the Lord, my soul, to take." Old-fashioned? What's wrong with that?

How do I return to venerated verities? Sometimes, I may have to make quick U-Turns; at other junctions, I may need to go slowly.  Sometimes I may need to make an oil-change or check steering wheel fluid, or (Oh My Goodness!), I may have to walk.  But to do nothing prolongs a remediable condition.  What if I decide to:

"Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son"

"And now let the weak say "I am strong"
Let the poor say I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us."

Hmm.  Might be a promising reboot.





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