Sunday morning the Chaplain gave his Thanksgiving message. The main point? Be thankful in all circumstances. I am reminded of Corrie ten Boom's
The Hiding Place, where she is thankful for the fleas. Yes, fleas! The fleas on the prisoners allowed them to safely avoid the detection of the guards and get Bibles, medicines,supplies etc to those who needed them. Those guards certainly didn't want to "catch" the fleas. Sometimes life feels like that, doesn't it? That everything is going wrong, your health is bad, loved ones are dying, and what could there to be thankful for? Sometimes finding thankfulness requires digging deep within ourselves and may even mean looking for what appears to be a negative on the surface (fleas, anyone?) and realizing that there could be a reason. Something, perhaps, to be thankful for. You're probably wondering why the pictures of trash and crowded cities on a post about thanksgiving. These are pictures from Brian's recent trip to Naples, Italy. Parts of Italy are beautiful, and there is a lot of great history there. But there are parts, like these, where people live in old, tight quarters and trash is everywhere. Yet the people in these areas have something to be thankful for, even if it is just a roof over their head and food on the table. And so do you. I Thessalonians 5:18, "In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
Sunday morning the Chaplain gave his Thanksgiving message. The main point? Be thankful in all circumstances. I am reminded of Corrie ten Boom's The Hiding Place, where she is thankful for the fleas. Yes, fleas! The fleas on the prisoners allowed them to safely avoid the detection of the guards and get Bibles, medicines,supplies etc to those who needed them. Those guards certainly didn't want to "catch" the fleas. Sometimes life feels like that, doesn't it? That everything is going wrong, your health is bad, loved ones are dying, and what could there to be thankful for? Sometimes finding thankfulness requires digging deep within ourselves and may even mean looking for what appears to be a negative on the surface (fleas, anyone?) and realizing that there could be a reason. Something, perhaps, to be thankful for. You're probably wondering why the pictures of trash and crowded cities on a post about thanksgiving. These are pictures from Brian's recent trip to Naples, Italy. Parts of Italy are beautiful, and there is a lot of great history there. But there are parts, like these, where people live in old, tight quarters and trash is everywhere. Yet the people in these areas have something to be thankful for, even if it is just a roof over their head and food on the table. And so do you. I Thessalonians 5:18, "In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
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