— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
I Chronicles 16:34
It’s that time of year again when across the world we are reminded to be thankful. Throughout history harvest time has been a time cultures have said thank you to the deity/deities they have worshiped. I’m not a psychologist, but thankfulness seems to be the natural human response to good experiences. I’ve also observed that thankful people are also happy people. Today’s meditation is written to emphasize the power of thankfulness and some tips to help us all be more thankful.
Let’s start with a personal observation. Think of yesterday and try to recall what made you thankful as your day progressed. Did you have the opportunity to thank someone? Did you have the opportunity to thank God? Now stay with yesterday and ask yourself if there were any missed opportunities that you had to be thankful about. If you can’t think of anything think a little harder.
There are so many ways and reasons to practice gratitude. In this meditation we will look at three life changing practices that can help you become more thankful to yourself, others and God.
Ourselves
For many of us saying thank you to ourselves does not come easy. Some of us might find it embarrassing or even prideful. When we learn to recognise the valuable things about ourselves it is easier to see the good in others. It is OK to thank yourselves for the achievements in your life, for doing things that make other’s lives better, for a good work out and for a good day at work. A challenge is to take a few minutes and think about some things you like about yourself.
Others
Saying thankful to others for most of us is much easier than thanking ourselves. In thanking others we need the ability to remain aware of others’s actions. Many of our days are so busy we forget about others since our thoughts are full of what we have to do next. Thanking for the big things comes easy but learning to thank others for the smaller things brings not only joy to the receiver of our thanks but it also gives the giver joy. A challenge for tomorrow is to say thank you to three(or more) people who shared you a kindness. A challenge for the week is to write a thank you note to someone.
God
One verse that causes me to be daily thankful to God is James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” Throughout the Old and New Testament there are many verses about thanking God. As in being aware of others we need to be aware of God throughout our day to remain thankful. Often we take things for granted because we are flooded with good things throughout the day. A challenge for this evening as you are preparing yourself for bed, thank God for three things that happened in your day.
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
Freiburg Anglican Church 