WHEN DID WE FORGET TO BE THANKFUL?

A sad reality of human nature is that those who have the most tend to be ungrateful 

and those who have the least tend to be the most grateful. 

I have met people with so much and still yearn for even more.  

On the streets of New Orleans, I met people who had lost nearly everything, yet shared what little they had.

My mother once was a waitress and told me the wealthy gave few tips and then very little while those clearly pinching pennies were generous.

Perhaps they knew what it was like to have little and to work hard for even that.

We live in a culture that is becoming devoid of gratitude. 

You will be hard-pressed to find it on social media. 

Facebook has become a platform for sharing grievances and tirades. 

It might be more accurately called "Spitebook".

We celebrate Thanksgiving by stuffing ourselves with food in mouth-bulging amounts 

rather than feeding people who don't have enough to eat. 

We desperately need to recapture the lost art of gratitude.

How do we do that?

During the course of a day we could look at whatever is in front of us and say,

 "How easily and quickly could this be taken from me?"

Our job. Our eyesight. A child, a loved one. 

A place to live

A pet.  Our health.  Our car.  Our security, our nation at peace.  Our marriage.

Now, try to imagine attempting to live with those losses. 

Perhaps we would be more appreciative of those blessings in our lives.

And more compassionate with 
those who do not have them.

 “At times, our own light goes out

and is rekindled by a spark 

from another person. 

With that remembrance, 

we should pass that spark 

to another 

who currently

resides in darkness."

 - Albert Schweitzer

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, 

EVERYONE!