Ralph Waldo Emerson Got It Right!

Essayist, lecturer, and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are so many things I am thankful for, and TO BE thankful for each and every day, three hundred sixty-five days of the year. Essayist, lecturer, and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson summed it up pretty nicely in his poem when he thanked our Lord for everything we experience in our lives. Notice how Emerson phrased it in a way that reads, "everything Thy goodness sends," which encompasses any and all things (whether good or bad), not just the things we feel are good in our lives.

When you hear someone respond to the age old Thanksgiving question, "what are you thankful for?"  Do you ever hear responses such as, "I'm thankful that my car broke down last week and it ended up costing me a thousand dollars!" or, "I'm thankful that I got so ill, I was hospitalized and spent three days in the hospital!"  Of course not, and why would anyone say such things? Right?!? We're use to hearing the canned responses of "family, friends, health, job, etc.," -- and not necessarily in that order.

Well, think about the words in Emerson's poem. And truly think about all the mishaps, missteps, accidents, perils, illnesses, close-calls, conflicts, mess-ups, slip-ups, burdensome things and all unforeseen things that have occurred in our lives, and amongst us, since the day we were born. It is truly a miracle and only by God's grace that any of us are blessed to go to sleep at night and wake up to a brand new day!

Can you think of the last time you thanked God, NOT just for the great things going on in your life, but also for all those not-so-nice things that have occurred and, quite possibly, you are still wading through (and waiting on that miracle to happen)?

The reason I ask is because I have found that my greatest moments of strength, growth, agility, understanding, peace, love, prosperity, etc.,  have come out of the most difficult times in my life. I can truly say that I am a better person today than I was a year ago, five years ago, ten years ago, twenty years ago and so on, because of some of the hardships I have endured throughout my life...NOT because the Lord caused difficult times to occur, but because He allowed them to. And He gave me the necessary tools and skills needed to persevere through those hardships. It is through those difficult times that I am reminded of how truly blessed I am to have a God that loves and cares for me, and only wants the best for me.  

Some of us have had to wait longer than others to see a hardship or 'mountain' removed from our lives. Why? There could be a multitude of reasons, but one reason could be that the Lord is waiting ON US to make a move to change, to grow, to stretch beyond our comfort zone! God knows our full potential better than we do most of the time! Unfortunately, many of us stay stuck in a situation waiting on the Lord to act, when in reality the Lord is waiting on us to make a move. So why would the Lord allow hardships to occur in our lives??? Well, just think about it...would you still want to be that same knuckle-headed teenager you once were with that hard-headed, stubborn, superior attitude you once had? LOL.

-- OH THANK YOU GOD FOR ALL THE MISHAPS, MISSTEPS, ACCIDENTS, PERILS, ILLNESSES, CLOSE-CALLS, CONFLICTS, MESS-UPS, SLIP-UPS, BURDENSOME THINGS AND ALL UNFORESEEN THINGS THAT HAVE OCCURRED IN MY LIFE, along with my HEALTH, FAMILY, FRIENDS, CAREERS and each and everything, 'Thy goodness sends!'

God Bless and Happy Thanksgiving!

T Denise Clary

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)