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holiday Quotes

A Prayer of Gratitude

“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” Meister Eckhart

Today, in the United States, most of us will be gathering around a table and offering a prayer of gratitude. The two simple words of thank you can do amazing things.

If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.

Meister Eckhart

A prayer of thanks changes us. We can come to God with no agenda and just simply express gratitude. It reminds us of what we do have and humbles us enough to realize we are more dependent than we would like to think.

All of us have wants and needs. On the other hand, if someone only comes to us when they want something, we start to dread the next encounter. None of us like a relationship where the other person is a taker.

Today, let us give thanks. Give thanks in prayer, and also give thanks to those around us. We rely on others much more than we would like to admit. Let us give thanks in prayer and in the words we give to others.

Think about why someone dear to you is so dear. Tell them. If it is too hard, we can just say, “Thank you.” If they ask what for, just tell them that they mean so much to us. A memory of past generosity is good, but not necessary. Just thank someone for the blessing they are. It does our heart, and the heart of the recipient of our gratitude, a good thing.

Categories
motivation

Get Ready for Thanksgiving!

Are you ready for Thanksgiving 2021? No? Me neither! A few years ago, I did a post on how to have a happy Thanksgiving. I had a cartoon that wasn’t based on real experience.

Cartoon of a couple. The wife says, "We're having a traditional Thanksgiving. Here's a musket. The turkey is in the backyard."

I am thankful I never had to go out and shoot our Thanksgiving turkey. Though if you haven’t already thawed the bird, you’re much more likely to have turkey tomorrow if you go hunting.

For 2021, an old-fashioned, traditional Thanksgiving is what most of us yearn for. We had an interesting, if not desirable one last year. Most of us didn’t get together at all or did so through Zoom. I hear the travel for this year is back to pre-pandemic levels.

Yet, I also know some friends who are still dealing with COVID in their families. And there are some of us who will be missing loved ones at the dinner table. In my family, I can think of a couple we will be mourning over this year.

Through it all, my prayer for you is that no matter the situation, you will remember something to be thankful for. It’s okay to mourn the losses. But also remember the blessings. They are out there. Have a happy Thanksgiving!

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Quotes

Marrying a Good Person

Today is Harpo Marx’s birthday. He was born on November 23, 1888. He’s the Marx brother who never spoke during their films. So it’s quite a delight for me to have a quote for him about marrying a good person.

By Ralph F. Stitt – This image is available from the United States Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3c26207. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1629215

“Harpo, she’s a lovely person. She deserves a good husband. Marry her before she finds one.”

Harpo Marx

On this week of Thanksgiving, I am thankful I married a good person. For one, she has made me a better person. Not only that, she is a born leader and someone with a caring heart. Plus, she is the closest thing I’ve seen to a superwoman balanced with a heart for God and people.

Therefore, like Harpo Marx, I am glad I married her before she found a good husband. You may want to pity her. The poor woman gets annoyed when I run around the house in a curly, blonde wig and only communicate with a bicycle horn. That’s what happens when you let a former vaudevillian influence you.

Categories
motivation

Learning Leads to Change

Learning Leads to Change

How do we know if someone really learns something? Learning leads to change. Check out this learning and change quote:

Change is the end result of all true learning.

Leo Buscaglia

If we learn something valuable, but it doesn’t lead to changes in behavior or tactics, have we really learned it? We can learn interesting facts and trivia. But if the only benefit is that it helps us win trivia games, is it true learning?

True learning goes from the head to the heart. It helps us reconsider previous beliefs. It opens our eyes to new possibilities. True learning takes the humility to reconsider if our previous beliefs still serve us well.

Otherwise, if learning something confirms our previous biases, is it really helpful? It can be threatening to learn something new that changes our outlook and actions. But it can be transforming and effective as well.

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Devotions growth motivation

The Password is “Thank You”

The password is thank you

A heart of gratitude is the password to so many good things. It takes us from entitlement to contentment. It changes “why me?” to “why not me?” It turns the focus from what we do not have to what we do have.

On this Sunday morning, I am reminded this is the best way to approach prayer and worship. The Message version of Psalm 100 helped me see this in a new light this day.

Enter with the password: “Thank you!” Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him.

Psalm 100:4 (MSG)

“Thank you” is the password to so many good things. My coworkers probably think I say it too often. My emails and speech are filled with please and thank you. But I am fine with being known as the guy who is too polite. It’s much better than being known as the guy with the rude ‘tude!

Therefore, when we go to prayer with a thankful heart, it makes us reconsider how much I have already been blessed. Just the fact we woke up to a new day is reason enough for gratitude. It helps us reconsider the many things we take for granted.

Nobody likes to see someone coming every time with a list of grievances, least of all God. It’s true that we can be honest and take our requests, our problem, and yes, our tragedies to him. But if that is the only time we pray, that would get pretty old.

Thanksgiving is coming. Let’s remember to give thanks today and every day. It’s a password to greater things. It’s a reminder we already have so many great things right under our noses.