Coming home from work I looked around at the beautiful autumn day with the blue sky, the crisp air, and the colorful trees; I thought to myself, "What a beautiful day it is." It was a beautiful day the kind that only comes once a season.
The further I went the more I admired the bright yellows and golden hues of the leaves in contrast to the blue sky. The road was covered with rust and gold leaves and sheltered by the cool shadows of the trees.
"Thank you, Lord, for this beautiful day." The words came spontaneously without ceremony or preparation. I didn't know that I was going to say them- I just said them. Over and again I was moved to words of gratitude that I did not expect to say; the only preparation was the fact that it was indeed a beautiful day and I was thankful for it.
There are times when we willfully and as a matter of moral rightness decide to be thankful. It is a good practice to set aside times for thankfulness, like the beginning and ending the day. The practice of thankfulness is a discipline and the trait of a disciple. There are other times when gratitude is inspired by the present hand of The Lord.
I hope to become more responsive to God's works and give thanks with as much ease as one eats or breaths. I hope that thankfulness will be my first reaction to blessings and His workings in my life; and that my days will be fully punctuated with frequent declarations of thanks to The Lord, and not just the routine performance of thankful words at prescribed times.
The experience and practice of spontaneous thankfulness to The Almighty is the result of a life of communion with The Lord, where His hand moves in some way and we thank Him for it. We cannot perceive or understand God in the same way as other relationships but thankfulness is a way of punching a small hole in the darkness of our ignorance and seeing His wonder.
The further I went the more I admired the bright yellows and golden hues of the leaves in contrast to the blue sky. The road was covered with rust and gold leaves and sheltered by the cool shadows of the trees.
"Thank you, Lord, for this beautiful day." The words came spontaneously without ceremony or preparation. I didn't know that I was going to say them- I just said them. Over and again I was moved to words of gratitude that I did not expect to say; the only preparation was the fact that it was indeed a beautiful day and I was thankful for it.
There are times when we willfully and as a matter of moral rightness decide to be thankful. It is a good practice to set aside times for thankfulness, like the beginning and ending the day. The practice of thankfulness is a discipline and the trait of a disciple. There are other times when gratitude is inspired by the present hand of The Lord.
I hope to become more responsive to God's works and give thanks with as much ease as one eats or breaths. I hope that thankfulness will be my first reaction to blessings and His workings in my life; and that my days will be fully punctuated with frequent declarations of thanks to The Lord, and not just the routine performance of thankful words at prescribed times.
The experience and practice of spontaneous thankfulness to The Almighty is the result of a life of communion with The Lord, where His hand moves in some way and we thank Him for it. We cannot perceive or understand God in the same way as other relationships but thankfulness is a way of punching a small hole in the darkness of our ignorance and seeing His wonder.
