Dear IPC Friends,
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and not just because I get to stuff myself with an incredible assortment of amazing food. I think it is wonderful that we set aside an entire day to think collectively about all the things for which we are thankful. One of the most important things we can do as Christians is learn to develop grateful hearts. After all, there is nothing like a spirit of gratitude to open our eyes to all that God is doing in our lives, which of course only makes us more grateful!
I used to think it unfortunate that Thanksgiving came right before Christmas. After all, on Christmas we exchange gifts with one another as we celebrate the greatest gift the world has ever received, the gift of the Christ child. And it always seemed to me that it would make more sense for us to celebrate Thanksgiving after Christmas so that we could express our gratitude for all that we have received. But now I see it a little differently. I think it is better that we celebrate Thanksgiving first because only those with thankful hearts are truly able to recognize all that they are being given.
In the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes, “If anyone should give me a dish of sand and tell me there were particles of iron in it, I might look for them with my eyes and search for them with my clumsy fingers, and be unable to find them. But let me take a magnet and sweep through it, and how it would draw to itself the most invisible particles by the sheer power of attraction. The unthankful heart, like my fingers in the sand, discovers no blessings; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day, and as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find in every hour some blessings; only the iron in God’s hand is gold.”
As we enter the season of Advent, let us do so with hearts full of gratitude for all that God has given us. We are an incredibly blessed church, and we have much for which to be thankful. And there is nothing like a thankful heart to open your eyes to the gracious, golden bounty of the Lord in your life.
See you in worship!
-Rev. Kevin Long
