The Rev William MacMillan, late of the First Presbyterian Church Dunmurry in South Belfast, where I used to be organist, told the story one Harvest of the young boy at the family dinner table who was eager to leave his place but was informed by his mother that he first had to finish his dessert. It was rice pudding, which he detested and so he struggled to eat as much as he could. Thinking he had consumed enough to be allowed to go and play, he made as if to get down from his chair. “You`re not going anywhere young man” declared his father “until you have returned thanks.” Pushing his spoon reluctantly around the bowl, the boy was heard to mumble sullenly, “Thank God, I wasn`t sick!”
Not quite “For what we have just received, may the Lord make us truly thankful!” but a Harvest illustration I have never forgotten and often repeat.
How often is our thankfulness genuine and how often are we simply going through the motions, merely saying what is expected?
One of my first prayers of thankfulness, I suppose, was the Grace we sang at school:
Thank you for the world so sweet,
Thank you for the food we eat.
Thank you for the birds that sing,
Thank you God for everything.
Which, with the accompanying tune, has stayed with me over the decades and is much more meaningful than some of today`s simplistic if not silly offerings, such as, “Lord, bless this bunch as they munch their lunch.”
But thankfulness, as we know from my opening illustration, is about more than just words: it is a frame of mind, an attitude and an approach to life. In Christian terms, it is also, if not primarily about our response to the grace and generosity of God, revealed in Christ. Another story, this time from scripture, is of the ten lepers who had been healed, only one of whom returned to give thanks to Jesus. It`s a story I have used myself when reflecting on the woeful level of church attendance on what we in Ulster refer to `the mainland`. All of us, irrespective of our status or background, are so fortunate compared with others across the world and yet how many make it to church or chapel on a Sunday to return thanks?
Only in old newsreels does the phrase, “A grateful nation" – mourns, rejoices, or whatever term is appropriate to the occasion, actually ring true. We need as a people to rediscover thankfulness. Just think of the difference it would make to so many people`s mental health – focussing on the positive instead of the negative.
In Christian Worship the opening prayers are of Thanksgiving and so, we begin, quite rightly, with a sense of gratitude.
On the inside front cover of Congregational Praise we read;
“... we beseech Thee, give us that due sense of all Thy mercies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful ...”.
And from 1 Thessalonians 5:
“….pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Alan Kennedy
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