Making America Good Again: Thanks-Giving

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.  Psalm 107:1

Now that Thanksgiving Day is over, make some quiet time this weekend to thank God for the people and things in your life.  Go broad and go deep.  Here are some thoughts to help you get started.

Thank God for the variety and abundance of food we have.  Imagine saying grace by naming each animal, plant, mineral and person that went into making your meal:

"Thank you God for turkeys.  Thank you for mashed potatoes and the cows that provided the butter and milk. Thank you for green beans and the pig that provided the bacon to flavor them. Thank you for the pumpkins, spices, sugar, eggs and milk in the pumpkin pie. Thank you for the grapes that made the wine and the beans that made the coffee.  Thank you for every hand that went into bringing this food to us from the farmers, to the truck drivers, to the people at the grocery store and the ones who cooked it.  Thank you God for everything and everyone who brought this meal to us."

Imagine how long that prayer would have been at your Thanksgiving feast!  And that's just being thankful for the food.

Thank God for the people in your life - family, friends and coworkers.  Thank God for those who have impacted you in some way, like teachers, pastors and doctors. Thank God for those who help us live together like police officers, soldiers and, yes, elected officials.  Thank God for folks who touch your life perhaps for only a moment like the Salvation Army bell-ringer and the people in need your generosity helps.  Thank God that each person is unique.  How boring the world would be if we were all the same!

Thank God for the stuff you do have.  Sometimes I get a little nuts and thank God for things like electricity, toilets that flush, cell phones, vaccines and the internal combustion engine!  I also thank God for the people with the ingenuity to be inventors and builders.

Thank God for intangible things that make life, life:  love, joy, truth, beauty, freedom and justice.  God created these too.

Thank God for the things that have happened in your life, the good and the bad.  It takes both laughter and tears to shape us into good people.

And, perhaps most of all, thank God for being God.  I thank God who gives me life, now and forever, who loves me and saves me from my sins.  I thank God who is with me everyday, who comforts me when I am sad, guides me when I am confused, heals me when I am sick and who fills me with joy.

What else would you like to thank God for today? Let's make America good again by being grateful to God for all that we have and all that we are.