2nd of 5 Thanksgiving plasms:
Gratitude strengthens each soul's attitude, when we sincerely do our part. Envy, self pity & pride, tear gratitude from our heart. Gratitude is the clear key, that opens God's true way, As our Lord's pure understanding chases Satan from our day.
This is the first of 5 psalms of Thanksgiving, one to be posted each day for the next 5 days.
Gratitude is the gateway for all who truly see. Grateful eyes see past life's woes into eternity. When we see & hear through all life's trials, with all our soul & heart, We do become more clear & true, as gratitude becomes a practiced art.
Thanks Giving is for giving thanks from the last unto the first, For what our family is to us, we strive to tell in humbled verse. From Roland unto Grandpa, we'll give each soul two lines, And hopefully we'll say some things where truth with love entwines. Roland Gene is the newest babe to join us here on earth. Roland rolls us in joy and laughter. His heart is of great worth. Allie-Mae Venice is sweet & honest. She touches us deep within. Allie fills us with her love. Her warm heart helps us win. Jetta Rose Renee is full of energy. Her smile warms our hearts. Jetta's kind, caring ways touch us deep, as she does her special part. James David has fun-loving honesty reaching deep within his soul. We feel his heart & like his smile & love to watch James grow. Asa Joseph Aaron is a thoughtful son. His courage grows within. Ace's honest integrity will keep his soul from sin. Parleigh Ann Deseret is a gifted soul in art and writing too. Par's honesty and courage will safely guide her through. Ammon Abraham is a thoughtful soul, wise beyond his years. Ammon has a wondrous mind. His good choices cast out all fears. Now we move to our children & every special spouse That gives us joy & love, as we seek for God's house. Evamarie Richardson, our last daughter, is a Mom, clear and true. Eve's greatest joy is for Ben & James, to help them to grow true. Benjamin H. Richardson is a loving Dad and a true mate. He tries his best in all he does for a good home to create. Valoree Dawn Carver is a special, caring friend to all our family. Val tries her best, as wife & Mom, as everyone can see. Joshua Brian Carver is a great Dad & husband to his wife. Josh helps us when he can & lifts our worldly strife. Aaron Abraham Anderson is a good Dad & mate to his wife. Abe loves & serves his family beyond all earthly strife. Taryn Wooley Anderson is a great Mom. Taryn's children love her so. We're thankful for out daughter & friend.. She helps our family grow. Jeanne Rich Anderson is a grandma, a mom & wife, The greatest gift Bob will ever have is Jeanne, as my eternal wife. Now Robert Earl Anderson has left his part to me, Bob adds the spice in abundance to this, our family.
The countdown to Thanksgiving Day (November 26) ought to spark an attitude of gratitude and turn our hearts to reflect upon the blessings we enjoy, even though 2020 has been characterized as a year of disaster. We have been conditioned to almost expect unfortunate events–to the point that we fail to recognize the ‘good’…the things all around us that bless our lives.
Yesterday I was swept away with the spirit of decorating for Christmas as I saw neighbors and family doing this in abundance. As I opened boxes and once again beheld items of sentimental importance…little things: a train, a string of bubble lights, miniature houses and battery lighted tiny trees…all, exactly the same as I left them last year. There was a ‘sameness’ that brought great joy and comfort. Despite the 2020 disastrous events, there was still happiness, just as it always has been, and, for a few short hours of decorating, I forgot the dark 2020 world outside, and all was well.
Gratitude = attitude in all we strive to do. If we're caught in Covid-19, this title still holds true. Some see this pandemic through sorrows and swollen eyes. Our prayers are for all who mourn. Our hearts feel your cries. We are an older couple. We strive to live each day. We call and text our loved ones and help in our own way. Jeanne decorates for Christmas as we prepare for family, In hope and prayer that all are well to join us. We will see? We stay at home the best we can to keep us virus free. We read the scriptures every day to keep our sanity. We work together on some chores. On some dreams, we work alone, But help each other when we're asked, to make our house a home. We pray each dawn and eve and over every meal. We feel God's love and comfort as Christ becomes more real. Gratitude = attitude. Thank Thee Lord for good and bad, For all life's experience with each lesson, happy or sad. #GiveThanks
Just some thoughts today…Once you think about it–it just might seem to get worse.
A health crisis is upon us. Cases are on a sharp rise. Hospital beds are at capacity. Wearing a mask and washing your hands is easy-peasy, but some other aspects are not…over time:
Staying at home, as we are asked to do…when we need grocery items (all the time)…When we crave a burger and fries that we haven’t cooked….When we need to prepare for Christmas and shop as we have always done in the past…When we are asked to limit physical contact and who we ought to be around…when we just want to take all day and stroll through a store and just ‘look’.
So, you begin to feel BOXED IN, and the walls seem to squeeze you, and
..that only makes all the things you want to or need to do seem bigger and bigger…and the box gets smaller and smaller and pushes all those ‘things’ against you–in your face, and you can’t see anything else. And there just isn’t room anymore.
And a thousand things are undone…then, none of them are even appealing, in fact, nothing seems appealing. You don’t want to do anything, but you feel ‘driven’ to do something, but what? You can’t see any answers because all your problems have wrapped themselves around your face, and blocked off everything. Sometimes you feel you can’t breathe. Sometimes you feel the whole world is against you, and any joy that used to be vivid is now muted and dull.
And in that closing box, even vision is now limited to not even beyond your nose.
I CALL THIS DEPRESSION !
It’s a very ugly thing. See it for what it is, and get out of that box!
getting out of the box will make the walls of your home seem even expansive! And your sight will lengthen out and discover the many things inside your new expanded space–the things that you CAN DO without even leaving the house. And you are so busy thinking of those things that you no longer notice what it was that you CAN’T DO.
That’s the trick…get out of the box
Sometimes, just knowing you’re in a little box is all it takes to step out and re-focus…but, we’re lucky if it ends up being that easy.
Sometimes we sit in the box, and we know we are in the box, and we want to be out, but we can’t break away.
Friends and family may help if we want them to. Call them. Doctors can help if we need them to. Call them. Jesus Christ will help is we pray him to. Pray.
Just get out of that tiny box!
To ponder is to meditate upon some special thing Like a death or our Mother, or a psalm we read or sing. Our pondering helps magnify the longings of one's heart, As we choose to ponder, sacred feelings in us start. If we ponder through deep sorrows, we can understand how to cope. To ponder on the life of Christ, lifts us up and gives us hope. Our Lord helps us to ponder if we strive through humble prayer, We can grow through deeper feelings if we pray to learn and care. We each can choose to meditate on each sacred day, As we learnt to place importance upon our Lord's sacred way. As we study God's true Son and overcome all worldly fear, We will find more inner peace as we grow from year to year. May we learn to truly ponder, as Mary did on her son, our Lord, Christ. Then by true meditation, pure peace will lessen strife. Lord, help us learn to ponder with a humble, searching soul, For Thou art our greatest teacher. Help us ponder, trust and grow.
This phrase, “..And Mary pondered these things in her heart.”, are repeated several times in the New Testament, in speaking of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. We define ‘ponder’ as to weigh or consider carefully. In our world, there is much competition for our attention, and we typically find ourselves busy, with our thoughts occupied with a task at hand… And, somehow have come to think of being busy as being a good thing, even a sort of badge of importance. We feel that we are lazy if we should sit for a few minutes and do NOTHING. Pondering is a quiet thing. It not only gives our mind a chance to connect with our heart, but also gives heaven a chance to connect with our heart too.
The summer weather had finally dropped in temperature, allowing me to stroll my 10 month old grandson around the block without overheating. And so I did. It’s the first walk we ever had taken, and he seemed very interested in the whole process. As we passed a near-by house with a chain-link fence, a black pot bellied pig trotted eagerly up to the fence. This did not go unnoticed by my grandson. He immediately screamed with delight and then giggled at every move the pig made, especially when he pushed his messy, slimy nose up to the fence. But it was when the pig turned around a wildly wagged it’s small tail that my grandson totally ‘lost it’ with delight! Oh, to be that excited about a pig wagging it’s tail!
I don’t recall ever being that excited for anything, ever. But, here he was in total unrestrained delight. His bright eyes scrutinized every movement, every snort, every blink, and found it all totally delightful.
Time stopped, and for a fleeting time, we both lived entirely in the moment. The cares of the world were flung from my mind. All was well with the world. There were no problems, no fears, no Covid, no politics, no deadlines, no chores, no bills, no pressures….just joy. I will reflect on that walk again and again, and be refreshed every time I do. I will see the world in a renewed awe, and, hopefully will look through the eyes of a child as I view the world around me.
My Mom used to call that ‘smelling the roses’!
Bob wrote a poem entitled “Spiritual Treasures” that applies to this experience:
Spiritual treasures are all around us, if we have eyes to see. The dawn's first light is filled with grace as light touches each tree, On through each day, as trials come, prayer guides us who listen clear, Until eve's colors kiss the clouds, as we feel God's love grow near.