A Concord Pastor Comments: A short Thanksgiving Day reflection...

Because I believe:
   that God is with me 24/7/365…
   that God watches with care every step I take…
   that God hears every prayer I offer…
   that God wants nothing for me
      apart from all that is good…
   that God’s grace and mercy are inexhaustible…

And because I know:

   how lazy and foolish I can be…
   how inattentive and self-centered I can be…
   how I fail to respond to God’s love, that I sin…
   there’s so much about God that I cannot know…

Because of all of this, I’m sure:

   that I often miss many of the gifts God gives me…
   that I leave many of God’s gifts undiscovered, unopened…
   that God often gives me what I need
      but not packaged as I expected or hoped
      and so I don’t see it and I don’t find it…
   that I often don’t know what I need
      so I fail to find it when it comes…

I believe that besides all I’m thankful for

on this Thanksgiving Day,
there are countless gifts and blessings from God
that have totally escaped my attention…

Perhaps the same is true for all of us.
In fact, I believe the same is true for all of us.

So this Thanksgiving,

let’s thank God for the gifts and blessings
we’ve have failed to find and open….

Let’s pray that we learn to look, to search every day,

with prayerful hope and expectation,
for the many gifts God so generously gives…

And especially let us open our hearts today

   to the greatest gift God has ever given:
      the gift of Jesus, our Lord and Brother,
      our Savior and Redeemer,
   the source of every joy and blessing in our lives.

Amen.