thankfulness....

...is another word for the sermon I heard this morning, that was actually titled: "Gratitude". I came away with a sense of thankfulness for so many  blessings, things we all take for granted, mundane-ness of our lives. Knowing how we seldom stop and say: "Yay for potable water!" Or consider how much we actually 'enjoy' the convenience of washers and dryers. Or deliberately think before we get out the keys to say: "Yay for reliable vehicles, and another big Yay for funds to buy gas or make repairs when needed for that vehicle that gets us where we want to be." Or that amazing box that sits in our kitchens, keeping a big pile of food cool and ready to eat.

The bulletin, passed out as we entered, included a couple of  yellow post-it notes. We were instructed to write something down that we are thankful for and bring the sticky notes when we walked to the front of the sanctuary to take communion. I needed a lot more paper than that. But I made a couple of notes, thinking about the people on the church staff who do so much, and seldom get noticed. The receptionist J., who is probably the glue that holds the whole thing together. And the minister of music, J., who creates the environment that invites the presence of the Holy Spirit into the place.  Plus about a thousand other people who show up on Sunday mornings to benefit from all the effort these two and others put into making it such an amazing experience.

There is so much stuff in our lives, a constant accumulation of 'too numerous to mention', that we use or not, things that make our lives easier, days go smoothly. We don't think about these things, or take the time to realize how our lives would be without the benefit of electricity, light bulbs, heating and cooling that make our houses comfortable. But they make a huge difference for all of us, in this Living in the Land of Plenty lifestyle. So in addition to all these things that we benefit from, I am thankful for the US Constitution. The document that provides us with the assurance we can go to church, without doubt or fear. So: Thanks Founding Fathers!