Give thanks to the One Who gave much

Photo Credit: http://www.pattihanan.com

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Gratefulness

Thou that hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, a grateful heart.
See how thy beggar works on thee
By art.He makes thy gifts occasion more,
And says, If he in this be crossed,
All thou hast given him heretofore
Is lost.

But thou didst reckon, when at first
Thy word our hearts and hands did crave,
What it would come to at the worst
To save.

Perpetual knockings at thy door,
Tears sullying thy transparent rooms,
Gift upon gift, much would have more,
And comes.

This not withstanding, thou wenst on,
And didst allow us all our noise:
Nay thou hast made a sigh and groan
Thy joys.

Not that thou hast not still above
Much better tunes, than groans can make;
But that these country-airs thy love
Did take.

Wherefore I cry, and cry again;
And in no quiet canst thou be,
Till I a thankful heart obtain
Of thee:

Not thankful, when it pleaseth me;
As if thy blessings had spare days:
But such a heart, whose pulse may be
Thy praise.
~ George Herbert
(1593–1633)
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Portrait of George Herbert (poet) by Robert White in 1674. From National Portrait Gallery (UK) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

O Lord that lends me life,
Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.
~ William Shakespeare

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The Grove at night during the holiday season (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

While Miriam Moreno from the island of Cuba, currently residing in Maryland has a love for God, art, family, true friendships, and just plain living, she is  grateful for family, knows that everyday new miracles are born, but we don’t even think about them as such, {Do Miracles Truly Exist?} and writes:

I am grateful for another holiday season I am able to celebrate with them. In less than a week, my parents are driving down with my niece. I am extremely excited. It’s been a while since my parents and I have been able to spend a holiday with other family members. It’s great!

Remember, if you don’t get along with someone now, it doesn’t mean it will always be like that. Time does heal all. I always had a hard time believing that, but its true. {A Conversation}

We may not forget that ingratitude is the cancer of the soul. Suncrest Highland Campus Pastor Wes Blackburn who loves Thanksgiving, the food, the family and is a big fan of the pies, writes:

I love how Thanksgiving always feels like it comes at just the right time in the year for me to take a step back, take a little bit of time off, and head back home to see some friends and family that I generally haven’t seen in a little while. For whatever reason, it just feels like a lot of stuff converges for me at this time of year and it’s always my favorite holiday. {Count Your Many Blessings}

the sexy santa assistants were there to take a photo of you in front of the xmas tree or you could just ask them to take a photo with you and pretend that your girlfriend is a sexy santa assistant See where this picture was taken. [?] (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

He continues that

in our haste to shift our focus to the buying, busy-ness, and consumerism that has become the Christmas season in America, we’ve lost sight of a valuable opportunity to reset ourselves spiritually and focus on what’s important. {Count Your Many Blessings}

It is not only in his country that people are taken by the material site of the holiday season. In all the capitalist countries people are blinded by the many things they think they should buy. The shopping has become for many their biggest concern, or the way how they can make the best supper, to show off.

How many people are there who are going to sit back, and make a list of all that they have in their life to be thankful for.

Wes Blackburn thinks what will happen when people are willing to take some 15 minutes to sit back:

In the first 2-3 minutes, you’ll list off all of the generic and general stuff that everyone lists. Then you’ll hit a block and be tempted to quit. Keep going. Keep pressing through. It’s in pressing through the “block” you’ll find some of the greatest, most unexpected sources of gratitude. You’ll find some incredible things to be thankful to God for.

If ingratitude is the cancer of the soul, thankfulness is the antidote.
It’s so easy for us to forget this.
But on this day of the year, let’s learn the rhythms of gratitude well,
and see God cultivate growth in our souls in the process.
– Wes Blackburn

In a A Season of Giving Thanks the explorer writing and reaching for more joy in his life ‘muse brad’ wrote:

The path to happiness and success is built upon what is currently working in our lives.
The more that we think, talk and focus on our blessings,
the better that we feel and the more our lives will flow.
In turn, we may bless others in a grand circle of love.

Start your own season of giving thanks and see what blessings come.

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Gratitude Journal (Photo credit: limevelyn)

May love, peace and harmony prevail on Earth! Enjoy your holiday season and take some time to reflect on it all…

The writer of A Season of Giving Thanks is, as we are, part of Bloggers for peace.
You too may become such a blogger,
bringing peace to others.

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