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I am continually
struck my how little we know of God’s ways. Our
unknowing is so large, it is incomprehensible. So
we go with what we know, and pretend that we know
a lot.
It’s similar to when
we flick the light switch and feel good that the
light actually came on. We know how to operate the
switch, but most of us know so little about, or
are so minimally aware of, how the light actually
went on.
We don’t think about
the science of how the electricity is generated,
how it is transmitted, how it is controlled, or
how it is converted to the heat that provides
light. We don’t think about the chain of people
and events involved in the production of the light
bulb, the lamp, the switch, the house wiring, the
transformers, the utility poles, the transmission
wires, the generators, and on and on. In short, we
take it for granted because as a matter of
“thought economy” we don’t have the capacity to
think in that depth about our every action and
everything that we see around us.
This “thought
economy” also causes us to lose our sense of
wonder, our appreciation of mystery. We come to
take things for granted. And in taking things for
granted, we lose our appreciation for them. And in
losing our appreciation for them, we miss being
thankful for them.
Some families
include in their table graces a far-reaching
thanksgiving for those who toiled to make the meal
possible. The thought reaches well before the
final preparation and serving of the meal. It
reaches all the way back to the person who planted
the seed that wound up as corn on the plate or
cared for the cow that produced the milk in the
glass.
It is helpful to
have this kind of awareness, without all the
detail overwhelming our consciousness, of
everything around us. As we look at our family,
our friends, every man-created thing and every
nature-created thing around us, it is humbling to
be aware of all that went in to providing those
blessings to us, and how little we are aware of
the complexity of their creation.
How can we not be
thankful? It is all gift. Regardless of the extent
of our toil, we played a miniscule role in those
blessings coming to us. And when we consider the
enormous detail behind every individual thing in
creation, we become aware that regardless of
whether we have little or much, it is all
abundance.
There is a single
origin that we often overlook. Behind every single
thing, behind every minute detail, is God. It all
comes back to Him. It all originates with Him. How
can we not be thankful for his unfathomable
abundance granted us so graciously? Easy, we take
it for granted. We lose wonder. His creative
extravagance surrounds us every moment of our
lives. As a result, we tend to lose awareness of
the source of all that we have.
By choosing to maintain a God
consciousness throughout our lives the only
appropriate response is to live in thanksgiving.
Living in thanksgiving leads us to sharing as
abundantly and freely as God gives to us. We also
claim one of the greatest gifts God offers us, a
spirit of abundance, when we respond to His
graciousness by living in thanksgiving.
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