“Gratitude spreads his feast of joy and thanksgiving for gifts that come to him without any special thought of him on the part of the giver, who indeed may himself have gone from the world hundreds of years ago. Thus he says his grace for a delightful or helpful book, for a great picture, for a glorious day, for the face of a little child, for happy work, for pleasant places. According to the saying of Jeremy Taylor, he is quick to ‘taste the deliciousness of his employment.’ He is thankful for all the good that comes to him. The poor soul who believes that life yields him nothing beyond his deserts, that it would be, in fact, impossible to give him more than he pays for, whether in coin or merit, is to be pitied for all the joy he loses… ‘Yea, a joyful and a pleasant thing it is to be thankful.’”
—Charlotte Mason, Ourselves
We ought always to be thankful, of course, but in this week it especially behooves us to give thanks. Please take a moment to mention one or two things for which you are grateful today. I’ll go first:
Blue skies with clouds like angel wings
The flaming red dress of a Japanese maple down the street
Raindrops on bare branches catching sunlight like diamonds
The curve of a road into the unknown
Candle-like canopies of vine maples and alders
The sound of my children’s voices
Shouts of laughter
A visit from a dear friend
Words of encouragement
Work that stretches me beyond comfort
Good books shared with my children
I could go on, but I’ll forebear. For what are you thankful? I want to give thanks with you!
Photo by Tambako the Jaguar, Creative Commons via Flickr.
