Count your blessings, name them one by one

prayerPower

by Mervyn Morelock, Lt. Colonel –

“O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him” (Psalm 105:1KJ).

“Thank God! Pray to him by name! Tell everyone you meet what he has done! Sing him songs, belt out hymns, translate his wonders into music!” (Psalm 105:1MSG).

November is a time for us to “Count our blessings.” It is a time to stop for a moment and thank God for who you are, where you live, for your family and for those other things that, all too often, we take for granted.

For some years Abigail Van Buren has written a traditional Thanksgiving column titled, “Take time to pause and count your blessings.” As “Dear Abby,” she reminds us that no matter how bad some things seem to be, we need to count our blessings. We forget to be thankful. She writes:
Why not take a few minutes to count your blessings?

How’s your health? You have a few minor complaints? Well, thank God they’re not major. Obviously you are still alive. You can probably think of at least one person who isn’t around this year (I can).

If you awakened this morning and were able hear the birds sing, use your vocal cords to utter human sounds, walk to the table on two good legs and read the newspaper with two good eyes (or even one), praise the Lord! A lot of people couldn’t. Say a prayer for those who perished in a fire, a flood, an earthquake or an accident.

How’s your pocketbook? Thin? Well, most of the world is a lot poorer, no pensions, no welfare. No food stamps, no Social Security, no Medicare. In fact, one third of the world will go to bed hungry tonight.

Are you lonely? The way to have a friend is to be one. If nobody calls you, pick up the phone and call somebody. Go out of your way to do something nice for someone. It’s a sure cure for the blues.

Are you concerned about our country’s future? Our system has been saved by such concerns. If you don’t like your elected officials, you can go to work and vote them out of office. We still have the soapbox and the ballot box.

Freedom rings! You can worship at the church of your choice, or not worship at all if you don’t want to. You can cast a secret ballot, or criticize your government without fearing a knock on the head or a knock at your door in the middle of the night.

And if you prefer to live under a different system, goodbye and good luck. You are free to go. There are no walls or barbed wire fences to keep you here.

A counselor got some amazing results when he required a client to write down 50 reasons to be thankful. It was hard at first because the client had become so discouraged and full of self that he didn’t think he had anything to be thankful for. As he laboriously tried to meet the requirement to find 50 things and people to be thankful for, his attitude began to slowly change until a new spark of hope swept over his heart—an attitude of gratitude!

So at this Thanksgiving time: