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Thankful


 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5:18)

          Yesterday, someone on one of my writer’s groups Face Book pages asked what we were thankful for. While I didn’t include her asking the question in the list, I am thankful for the question, because it got my mind working in a good direction. What are we thankful for? 
          I don’t remember all of what I listed, but it included or should have included

the cooler temperatures, 
having finished my concrete block garden project (at least for now,) 
having gotten the window project done (for now,) 
having published one book, possibly completed another, and making progress on a third
family and friends
the growth of my gardens
my dog
my truck
and COVID-19 because it started one of my “I need to be better prepared” phases and has led to what looks like it’s going to be an educational summer.
          I have yet to find a way to be thankful for the murders of Ahmaud Arbery or George Floyd, or for any of the hatefulness that has come along since. It’s difficult to comprehend how anything could come out of it that we might be able to be thankful for. I suppose some folks are thankful because it gives them an opportunity to act on their own hatred. The murders are fuel for a fire of hatred they’ve been tending for years. 
         I guess the two things that I can thank God for with regard to the murders and the hatred are 1) that the events as a whole are an opportunity for God to be at work in lives, and 2) that these events put hatred – all kinds of hatred – on center stage so that we can see what an ugly creature it is and turn away from it. Sadly, for too many it is a creature embraced for its promise of power.  And, I suppose, since they are also center stage, I can be thankful that I have seen the path they’re taking is not one I want to take. 
         Being thankful isn’t always easy, because being thankful requires trust. How can you be thankful when things aren’t going the way you want them to – the way you think they should? It requires trust that the one to whom you are thankful is capable, competent, caring, compassionate, charitable, and wise. 
          Somehow, just as God has been able already to bring about good this summer in spite of  and using the pandemic, He is able, and is already bringing about good, even in your life, in spite of and through the hatred and those exploiting it for their own gain. And for that, we should be, and can be thankful.
          So, for what are you thankful today?

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