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Thanksgiving
to God
Ingratitude
Many years
ago
a boat was wrecked in a storm on Lake Michigan at Evenston
Illinois.
Students from
Years later
R. A. Torrey
was talking about this incident at a meeting in
Thankfulness
An evergreen
is always green despite the changes in weather around it. It is green in the
heat of summer as well as the cold of winter. So also our lives are to be
characterized by an enduring thankfulness that is unaffected by the changes
around us. When the heat of a pressured week or the deadly cold of pain strikes
us
we should stand “ever green
” always thankful
regardless of that which
surrounds us. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Thankfulness
A little boy
was asked by his father to say grace at the table. While the rest of the family
waited
the little guy eyed every dish of food his mother had prepared. After
the examination
he bowed his head and honestly prayed
“Lord
I don’t like the
looks of it
but I thank you for it
and I’ll eat it anyway. Amen.” ── Michael
P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Thankfulness
There is an
imaginative story told of a day when the sun did not rise. Six o’clock came and
there was no sign of dawn. At seven o’clock
there was still no ray of light.
At noon
it was as black as midnight. No birds sang and only the hoot of an owl
broke the silence. Then came the long black hours of the afternoon. Finally
evening arrived but no one slept that night. Some wept
some wrung their hands
in anguish. Every church was thronged with people on their knees. Thus they
remained the whole night through. After that long night of terror and agony
millions of eager
tear-streaked faces were turned toward the east. When the
sky began to grow red and the sun rose
there was a loud shout of joy. Millions
of lips said
“Bless the Lord
O my soul!” because the sun had risen after one
day of darkness.
The very consistency of
God’s blessings sometimes seems to dull our gratitude. The wonderful thing
about the mercies of God is that they are fresh every morning and new every
evening. Let us remember to be constantly thankful to our gracious God. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Thankfulness
Bible
commentator Matthew Henry
after being robbed
wrote in his diary the
following: “Let me be thankful. First
because I was never robbed before.
Second
because although they took my wallet
they did not take my life. Third
because although they took my all
it was not much. Fourth
because it was I
who was robbed
not I who robbed.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Thankfulness
Corrie ten
Boom in The Hiding Place relates an incident that taught her always to be
thankful. She and her sister
Betsy
had just been transferred to the worst
German prison camp they had seen yet
Ravensbruck. On entering the barracks
they found them extremely overcrowded and flea-infested.
That morning
their
Scripture reading in 1 Thessalonians had reminded them to rejoice always
pray
constantly
and give thanks in all circumstances. Betsy told Corrie to stop and
thank the Lord for every detail of their new living quarters. Corrie at first
flatly refused to give thanks for fleas
but Betsy persisted
and Corrie
finally succumbed to her pleadings. During the months spent at that camp
they
were surprised to find how openly they could hold Bible study and prayer
meetings without guard interference. It was not until several months later that
they learned the reason the guards would not enter the barracks was because of
the fleas. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Blessed is he who expects
no gratitude for he shall not be disappointed.
W.C. Bennett
Trinity Ave
Pres. Church
Durham
N.C. in The Official Rules
p. 12.
The careless soul receives
the Father's gifts as if it were a way things had of dropping into his
hand...yet he is ever complaining
as if someone were accountable for the
problems which meet him at every turn. For the good that comes to him
he gives
no thanks--who is there to thank? At the disappointments that befall him he
grumbles--there must be someone to blame!
George MacDonald.
Andrew Carnegie
the
multimillionaire
left $1 million for one of his relatives
who in return
cursed Carnegie thoroughly because he had left $365 million to public charities
and had cut him off with just one measly million.
Source Unknown.
Samuel Leibowitz
criminal
lawyer and judge
saved 78 men from the electric chair. Not one ever did bother
to thank him.
Source Unknown.
Many years ago
as the
story is told
a devout king was disturbed by the ingratitude of his royal
court. He prepared a large banquet for them. When the king and his royal guests
were seated
by prearrangement
a beggar shuffled into the hall
sat down at
the king's table
and gorged himself with food. Without saying a word
he then
left the room. The guests were furious and asked permission to seize the tramp
and tear him limb from limb for his ingratitude.
The king replied
"That beggar has done only once to an earthly king what each of you does
three times each day to God. You sit there at the table and eat until you are
satisfied. Then you walk away without recognizing God
or expressing one word
of thanks to Him."
Source Unknown.
Ingratitude denotes
spiritual immaturity. Infants do not always appreciate what parents do for
them. They have short memories. Their concern is not what you did for me
yesterday
but what are you doing for me today. The past is meaningless and so
is the future. They live for the present. Those who are mature are deeply
appreciative of those who labored in the past. They recognize those who labor
during the present and provide for those who will be laboring in the
future.
Contact
Homemade
December 1984.
Thankfulness seems to be a
lost art today. Warren Wiersby illustrated this problem in his commentary on
Colossians. He told about a ministerial student in Evanston
Illinois
who was
part of a life-saving squad. In 1860
a ship went aground on the shore of Lake
Michigan near Evanston
and Edward Spencer waded again and again into the
frigid waters to rescue 17 passengers. In the process
his health was
permanently damaged. Some years later at his funeral
it was noted that not one
of the people he rescued ever thanked him.
Our Daily Bread
February 20
1994.
An estimated 1.5 million
people are living today after bouts with breast cancer. Every time I forget to
feel grateful to be among them
I hear the voice of an eight-year-old named
Christina
who had cancer of the nervous system. When asked what she wanted for
her birthday
she thought long and hard and finally said
"I don't know. I
have two sticker books and a Cabbage Patch doll. I have everything!" The
kid is right.
Erma Bombeck
Redbook
October
1992.
Why did only one cleansed
leper return to thank Jesus? The following are nine suggested reasons why
the nine did not return:
One waited to see if the
cure was real.
One waited to see if it
would last.
One said he would see
Jesus later.
One decided that he had
never had leprosy.
One said he would have
gotten well anyway.
One gave the glory to the
priests.
One said
"O
well
Jesus didn't really do anything."
One said
"Any rabbi
could have done it."
One said
"I was
already much improved."
Charles L. Brown
Content
The Newsletter
June
1990
p. 3.
Forgive Me When I Whine
Today upon a bus
I saw a
lovely maid with golden hair; I envied her -- she seemed so gay
and how
I
wished I were so fair; When suddenly she rose to leave
I saw her hobble down
the aisle; she had one foot and wore a crutch
but as she passed
a smile. Oh
God
forgive me when I whine
I have two feet -- the world is mine.
And when I stopped to buy
some sweets
the lad who served me had such charm; he seemed to radiate good
cheer
his manner was so kind and warm; I said
"It's nice to deal with
you
such courtesy I seldom find"; he turned and said
"Oh
thank you
sir." And then I saw that he was blind. Oh
God
forgive me when I whine
I have two eyes
the world is mine.
Then
when walking down the
street
I saw a child with eyes of blue; he stood and watched the others play
it seemed he knew not what to do; I stopped a moment
then I said
"Why
don't you join the others
dear?" He looked ahead without a word
and then
I knew he could not hear. Oh God
forgive me when I whine
I have two ears
the
world is mine.
With feet to take me where
I'd go; with eyes to see the sunsets glow
with ears to hear what I would know.
I am blessed indeed. The world is mine; oh
God
forgive me when I whine.
Source Unknown.
In his autobiography
Breaking Barriers
syndicated columnist Carl Rowan tells about a teacher who
greatly influenced his life. Rowan relates: Miss Thompson reached into her desk
drawer and pulled out a piece of paper containing a quote attributed to Chicago
architect Daniel Burnham. I listened intently as she read: "Make no little
plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not
be realized. Make big plans
aim high in hope and work. Remember that our sons
and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us."
More than 30 years later
I gave a speech in which I said that Frances Thompson had given me a
desperately needed belief in myself. A newspaper printed the story
and someone
mailed the clipping to my beloved teacher. She wrote me: "You have no idea
what that newspaper story meant to me. For years
I endured my brother's
arguments that I had wasted my life. That I should have married and had a
family. When I read that you gave me credit for helping to launch a marvelous
career
I put the clipping in front of my brother. After he'd read it
I said
'You see
I didn't really waste my life
did I?'"
Carl Rowan
Breaking
Barriers.
In his book FOLK PSALMS OF
FAITH
Ray Stedman tells of an experience H.A. Ironside had in a crowded
restaurant. Just as Ironside was about to begin his meal
a man approached and
asked if he could join him. Ironside invited his to have a seat. Then
as was
his custom
Ironside bowed his head in prayer. When he opened his eyes
the
other man asked
"Do you have a headache?" Ironside replied
"No
I don't." The other man asked
"Well
is there something
wrong with your food?" Ironside replied
"No
I was simply thanking
God as I always do before I eat."
The man said
"Oh
you're one of those
are you? Well
I want you to know I never give thanks. I
earn my money by the sweat of my brow and I don't have to give thanks to
anybody when I eat. I just start right in!"
Ironside said
"Yes
you're just like my dog. That's what he does too!"
Ray Stedman
Folk Psalms
of Faith.
It is gratitude that
prompted an old man to visit an old broken pier on the eastern seacoast of
Florida. Every Friday night
until his death in 1973
he would return
walking
slowly and slightly stooped with a large bucket of shrimp. The sea gulls would
flock to this old man
and he would feed them from his bucket. Many years
before
in October
1942
Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was on a mission in a B-17
to deliver an important message to General Douglas MacArthur in New Guinea. But
there was an unexpected detour which would hurl Captain Eddie into the most
harrowing adventure of his life.
Somewhere over the South
Pacific the Flying Fortress became lost beyond the reach of radio. Fuel ran
dangerously low
so the men ditched their plane in the ocean...For nearly a
month Captain Eddie and his companions would fight the water
and the weather
and the scorching sun. They spent many sleepless nights recoiling as giant
sharks rammed their rafts. The largest raft was nine by five. The biggest
shark...ten feet long.
But of all their enemies
at sea
one proved most formidable: starvation. Eight days out
their rations
were long gone or destroyed by the salt water. It would take a miracle to
sustain them. And a miracle occurred. In Captain Eddie's own words
"Cherry
" that was the B- 17 pilot
Captain William Cherry
"read the service that afternoon
and we finished with a prayer for
deliverance and a hymn of praise. There was some talk
but it tapered off in
the oppressive heat. With my hat pulled down over my eyes to keep out some of
the glare
I dozed off."
Now this is still Captian
Rickenbacker talking..."Something landed on my head. I knew that it was a
sea gull. I don't know how I knew
I just knew. Everyone else knew too. No one
said a word
but peering out from under my hat brim without moving my head
I
could see the expression on their faces. They were staring at that gull. The
gull meant food...if I could catch it."
And the rest
as they say
is history. Captain Eddie caught the gull. Its flesh was eaten. Its intestines
were used for bait to catch fish. The survivors were sustained and their hopes
renewed because a lone sea gull
uncharacteristically hundreds of miles from
land
offered itself as a sacrifice. You know that Captain Eddie made it.
And now you also
know...that he never forgot. Because every Friday evening
about sunset...on a
lonely stretch along the eastern Florida seacoast...you could see an old man
walking...white-haired
bushy-eyebrowed
slightly bent. His bucket filled with
shrimp was to feed the gulls...to remember that one which
on a day long past
gave itself without a struggle...like manna in the wilderness.
Paul Aurandt
"The
Old Man and the Gulls"
Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story
1977
quoted in Heaven Bound Living
Knofel Stanton
Standard
1989
p. 79-80.
The first American
Thanksgiving didn't occur in 1621 when a group of Pilgrims shared a feast with
a group of friendly Indians. The first recorded thanksgiving took place in Virginia
more than 11 years earlier
and it wasn't a feast. The winter of 1610 at
Jamestown had reduced a group of 409 settlers to 60. The survivors prayed for
help
without knowing when or how it might come. When help arrived
in the form
of a ship filled with food and supplies from England
a prayer meeting was held
to give thanks to God.
Today in the Word
July
1990
p. 22.
A 12 year old boy named
David was born without an immune system. He underwent a bone marrow transplant
in order to correct the deficiency. Up to that point he had spent his entire
life in a plastic bubble in order to prevent exposure to common germs
bacteria
and viruses that could kill him. He lived without ever knowing human
contact. When asked what he'd like to do if and when released from his
protective bubble
he replied
"I want to walk barefoot on grass
and
touch my mother's hand."
Source Unknown.
To All Ye Pilgrims:
Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of
Indian corn
wheat
beans
squashes
and garden vegetables
and has made the
forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams
and inasmuch as He
has protected us from the ravages of the savages
has spared us from pestilence
and disease
has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of
our own conscience; now
I
your magistrate
do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims
with your wives and little ones
do gather at ye meeting house
on ye hill
between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time
on Thursday
November ye 29th of
the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty-three
and third year
since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock
there to listen to ye pastor
and
render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.
William Bradford
the governor
of Plymouth Colony.
In a sermon at Immanuel
Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles
Gary Wilburn said: "In 1636
amid the
darkness of the Thirty Years' War
a German pastor
Martin Rinkart
is said to
have buried five thousand of his parishioners in one year
and average of
fifteen a day. His parish was ravaged by war
death
and economic disaster. In
the heart of that darkness
with the cries of fear outside his window
he sat
down and wrote this table grace for his children: 'Now thank we all our God /
With heart and hands and voices;/ Who wondrous things had done
/ In whom His
world rejoices. /Who
from our mother's arms
/Hath led us on our way/ With
countless gifts of love/ And still is ours today.'"Here was a man who knew
thanksgiving comes from love of God
not from outward circumstances.
Don Maddox.
First National
Thanksgiving 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;
Whereas
both the 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 and signal favors of
Almighty God
especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to
establish a form of government for their safety and happiness!"
Now therefore
I do
recommend next
to be devoted by the people of the states to the service of
that great and glorious being
who is the beneficent Author of all the good
that was
that is
or that will be
that we may then all unite in rendering
unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the
people of this country.
George Washington
1779.
Two 1863 Thanksgiving
Proclamations which are said to be by Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln's
Thanksgiving
Proclamation
of 1863
The year that is drawing towards its close
has been filled with
the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties
which
are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which
they come
others have been added
which are of so extraordinary a nature
that
they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually
insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.
In the midst of a civil
war of unequalled magnitude and severity
which has sometimes seemed to foreign
States to invite and to provoke their aggression
peace has been preserved with
all nations
order has been maintained
the laws have been respected and
obeyed
and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military
conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing
armies and navies of the Union.
Needful diversions of
wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national
defence
have not arrested the plough
the shuttle
or the ship; the axe had
enlarged the borders of our settlements
and the mines
as well of iron and
coal as of the precious metals
have yielded even more abundantly than
heretofore.
Population has steadily
increased
notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp
the siege
and the battle-field; and the country
rejoicing in the consciousness of
augmented strength and vigor
is permitted to expect continuance of years with
large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath
devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the
gracious gifts of the Most High God
who
while dealing with us in anger for
our sins
hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
It has seemed to me fit
and proper that they should be solemnly
reverently and gratefully acknowledged
as with one heart and voice by the whole American People.
I do therefore invite my
fellow citizens in every part of the United States
and also those who are at
sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands
to set apart and observe the
last Thursday of November next
as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent
Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.
And I recommend to them
that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular
deliverances and blessings
they do also
with humble penitence for our
national perverseness and disobedience
commend to his tender care all those
who have become widows
orphans
mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil
strife in which we are unavoidably engaged
and fervently implore the
interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to
restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full
enjoyment of peace
harmony
tranquillity and Union.
A. Lincoln
October 3
1863.
Scottish minister
Alexander Whyte was known for his uplifting prayers in the pulpit. He always
found something for which to be grateful. One Sunday morning the weather was so
gloomy that one church member thought to himself
"Certainly the preacher
won't think of anything for which to thank the Lord on a wretched day like
this." Much to his surprise
however
Whyte began by praying
"We
thank Thee
O God
that it is not always like this."
Daily Bread
August 26
1989.
In Budapest
a man goes to
the rabbi and complains
"Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living
in one room. What can I do?"
The rabbi answers
"Take your goat into the room with you." The man in
incredulous
but the rabbi insists. "Do as I say and come back in a
week."
A week later the man comes
back looking more distraught than before. "We cannot stand it
"
he tells the rabbi. "The goat is filthy."
The rabbi then tells him
"Go home and let the goat out. And come back in a week."
A radiant man returns to
the rabbi a week later
exclaiming
"Life is beautiful. We enjoy every
minute of it now that there's no goat -- only the nine of us."
George Mikes
How to be
Decadent
Andre Deutsch
London.
Two men were walking
through a field one day when they spotted an enraged bull. Instantly they
darted toward the nearest fence. The storming bull followed in hot
pursuit
and it was soon apparent they wouldn't make it.
Terrified
the one shouted
to the other
"Put up a prayer
John. We're in for it!"
John answered
"I
can't. I've never made a public prayer in my life."
"But you must!"
implored his companion. "The bull is catching up to us."
"All
right
" panted John
"I'll say the only prayer I know
the one my
father used to repeat at the table: 'O Lord
for what we are about to receive
make us truly thankful.'"
Source Unknown.