Rev. Dustin ParkerThanksgiving
(I'll do the second part of Responsibility tomorrow sometime)
Well, in spirit of the holiday that has passed us by with barely a mention (unless you go to a church where there are a whole bunch of americans) I felt it would be a fine thing to jot down a few ideas about thankfulness.
GK Chesterton once remarked "You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink." I like this attitude and lately, have been trying harder to cultivate it.
There is a passage in the Bible that states that the courts of praise are entered by the gates of thanksgiving. Which makes sense. It is easier to praise God when you have something to thank Him for. I also think that there are blessings that surround us day after day that we are either ignorant of, or desensitized to, much to our loss. Chesterton also said that in order to make our world larger, we need to make ourselves smaller. To look at a mountain and to see simply a heap of stone, minerals and metals that man can make use of is a tragedy. To see a work of art, patiently and loving crafted over millions of years is a blessing. To see a person as simply a face that we see without considering them a self, just as I am a self is to be blind. But to see before me an image and likeness of God made just as I am is to see truly.
I am thankful for the food that I eat, for the sunshine, for fresh air, and for laughter. I am thankful for good friends, my amazing, wonderful, gorgeous, extremely wise girlfriend Nata (who has AMAZING legs by the way) who is the most special lady I have ever met. I am thankful for the brothers and sisters in Christ that have stood by me, irritated the crap out of me, not given up on me and forced me to stop being so much of my worst but lifted me to my best. I am thankful for poetry, for writing, for reading, for the Bible, for Grace and for what has been done for me.
JZ
So, what are YOU thankful for?
Well, in spirit of the holiday that has passed us by with barely a mention (unless you go to a church where there are a whole bunch of americans) I felt it would be a fine thing to jot down a few ideas about thankfulness.
GK Chesterton once remarked "You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink." I like this attitude and lately, have been trying harder to cultivate it.
There is a passage in the Bible that states that the courts of praise are entered by the gates of thanksgiving. Which makes sense. It is easier to praise God when you have something to thank Him for. I also think that there are blessings that surround us day after day that we are either ignorant of, or desensitized to, much to our loss. Chesterton also said that in order to make our world larger, we need to make ourselves smaller. To look at a mountain and to see simply a heap of stone, minerals and metals that man can make use of is a tragedy. To see a work of art, patiently and loving crafted over millions of years is a blessing. To see a person as simply a face that we see without considering them a self, just as I am a self is to be blind. But to see before me an image and likeness of God made just as I am is to see truly.
I am thankful for the food that I eat, for the sunshine, for fresh air, and for laughter. I am thankful for good friends, my amazing, wonderful, gorgeous, extremely wise girlfriend Nata (who has AMAZING legs by the way) who is the most special lady I have ever met. I am thankful for the brothers and sisters in Christ that have stood by me, irritated the crap out of me, not given up on me and forced me to stop being so much of my worst but lifted me to my best. I am thankful for poetry, for writing, for reading, for the Bible, for Grace and for what has been done for me.
JZ
So, what are YOU thankful for?
I think we should first thank God before asking Him about something and doing something.
Thank you
Glad I could write something that could bless you. My Natalie.
Everyone, that comment is from my darling Natalie, that those of you who have been reading my blogs have heard about. She is the most amazing woman in the world.
I love you dear one.
JZ
Flashes of memories
Ah that`s great - what you two have is a blessing I reckon!
Great post. I think we spend too much time looking at the negative in our lives and not enough time being thankful for the positive. It is interesting you write about finding the beauty in the mountain - I was out camping this weekend with some friends and was quite taken aback at how differently we looked at things. There was something really beautiful about the bare, empty fields and the luch green jungles that we went through, yet they were bored and only wanted the town where there were hotels and clubs.
I am thankful for having met enough wonderful people who have shown me how to look at things from different perspectives and enjoy the smaller things in life. WIthout them I would be an empty shell.
Great post!
Ash
thanks for saying what you said. The ability to really appreciate nature and people are great blessings to have.
Keep on growing Ash.
JZ