St. Bartholomew Church

It's now been a little over two months since Thanksgiving. 

And it's probably a good time for us to call it to mind once again. 

We have so much in our lives to be Thankful for - but are we?

The further we get from that designated day of being thankful, it seems to be that the less and less time we actually spend being thankful. 

It is so easy for us in this life to get distracted, to focus on the things that don't go right, the resentments, the ill will, the disappointments, our plans or hopes that never seem to come to fruition - because, those are the things the devil uses to pull us away from what we should be doing - from living our lives positively, for the good of God and His Church, to be happy, to be holy, and to actually be thankful. 

We can so very easily become imprisoned by our own discontents - that we forget to recognize the joys and the blessings all around us.  Sure, much in our lives doesn't go right - and sometimes it's a complete bloomin disaster - but we can always find something to be thankful for.  Do we?

Do we thank God for what He has given us, rather than just yelling at him for what he hasn't?

Do we thank our spouse, our children, our parents, our friends for the blessings they are to us, or do we just keep ripping on them, making them feel like they have let us down or like they are an inconvenience or an obstacle keeping us from what we would really like to be doing?   

Are we thankful for the breath in our lungs, the roof over our head, the food on our plates, the health that we do have, and even the ability to shovel snow - or do we just gripe about the other things we want, complain because nothing is ever good enough for us, and whine because we want an oompah loompah now. 

 The list of what we should be thankful for goes on and on, as does the list of what we could choose to grumble and gripe about.

One choice moves us forward, the other keeps us going down the spiral of hell and unhappiness.  No matter how bad things may get, let's pray for the grace to be thankful, and then for the gumption to live it. God help us all.  +