Yesterday was Thanksgiving in America… Some of the Pilgrim Fathers came from this corner of England over 400 years ago…
Whether they were heroes seeking their religious freedom, or grumpy Christians who couldn’t get on with anybody else is another matter…
Musing… I know both heroic freedom-fighting Christians, and grumpy I-don’t-get-on-with-anybody Christians today!!
We saw pictures of Dave and Jen yesterday. Recently we attended their wedding in Lowestoft. In Brazil they’ve been celebrating their marriage with Jen’s family…
I’m thankful for love and family… particularly when it’s discovered, rediscovered and enjoyed by young people… in a world where love and family is often damaged or destroyed.
Yesterday I read this Carl Rogers quote: ‘People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don’t find myself saying, ‘Soften the orange a bit on the right hand corner.’ I don’t try to control a sunset. I watch it with awe as it unfolds.’
I’m thankful for the beauty of individual characters… their unique differences, constantly changing, unfolding… in a world where individuality is often discouraged or controlled.
I met a young man emptying the bins along the sea front this morning. He was cheerful, delightful and happy in his work. He thought he’d found a dead body on the beach; it was just an old sleeping-bag!
I’m thankful for all who work happily and cheerfully… perhaps unnoticed, making their world a better place… in a world where there’s so much dissatisfaction in the workplace.
Reading this morning about St Paul’s ‘Thorn in the flesh’ – perhaps a physical or mental illness or disability. He prayed it would go away. It didn’t. He concluded: ‘I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.’
I’m thankful for this example… Continuing to learn humility, gaining strength from my weaknesses, depending more on my God… in a world where popularity, power and self-sufficiency are prioritised.
malcolmsmusings.org 