November was the month of realizing what you're thankful for. Most everyone knows that, and it was great to see the social media scene blowing up with people being positive and "thankful," if only for a month. And so I looked up the definition of thankful, clicked the first link, and got these three definitions:
1. Conscious of benefit received.
2. Expression of thanks.
3. Well pleased: glad.
The second definition was a given. The first was a little odd in the way it was defined. But the third. It snagged me. Well pleased. The sentence it used was "was thankful that it didn't rain." It was an interesting term for thankful, or at least one that I hadn't really thought of.
For those who follow this trend of describing who/what/when/where/why they're thankful, I'm sure they mean it in the most genuine way. Yet the way a majority of people describe their thanks, it only goes down to the second definition. They are aware of the benefits that have been given to them. Now whether or not you believe God gives those to you or not, that's all up to you. Either way, you have been "given" many benefits simply if you live in America. And no doubt what they say is an expression of thanks, yet I believe that part is the most detached of the three.
But few go down to that third layer. There's a difference between being aware of what you have while being understandingly thankful for them, and being well pleased or glad for them. See, especially as Americans, we tend to hold thankfulness in one hand while craving after something the next. I am amazingly thankful for what I have, including this very computer that I'm writing out this blog on. And at the same time, I wouldn't mind having an iPad, that way I can shpeeeeeel about my life via a tablet and be very cool-like. It's become second nature for us. It's our culture.
And yet the more I think about what being well pleased is like, the more the word content comes to mind. It's a foreign concept, and not one you'll often find in the American culture. To me, if you're content with what you have, you're pleased with it. It means you aren't looking for something else to satisfy you. You're completely ok with having just a computer instead of having a computer AND wanting that iPad.
Having more will not bring me to God. That's not the path to righteousness. However, being content with what you have, being thankful for what you currently have, that can bring you to God. Because when you're content-thankful-with what you have, you can focus that desire and energy for stuff on God instead. It's a lesson I've learned and re-learned countless times.
I could go further, but this post has taken two weeks to develop :)
Closing words: Be THANKFUL. Be Content.
1. Conscious of benefit received.
2. Expression of thanks.
3. Well pleased: glad.
The second definition was a given. The first was a little odd in the way it was defined. But the third. It snagged me. Well pleased. The sentence it used was "was thankful that it didn't rain." It was an interesting term for thankful, or at least one that I hadn't really thought of.
For those who follow this trend of describing who/what/when/where/why they're thankful, I'm sure they mean it in the most genuine way. Yet the way a majority of people describe their thanks, it only goes down to the second definition. They are aware of the benefits that have been given to them. Now whether or not you believe God gives those to you or not, that's all up to you. Either way, you have been "given" many benefits simply if you live in America. And no doubt what they say is an expression of thanks, yet I believe that part is the most detached of the three.
But few go down to that third layer. There's a difference between being aware of what you have while being understandingly thankful for them, and being well pleased or glad for them. See, especially as Americans, we tend to hold thankfulness in one hand while craving after something the next. I am amazingly thankful for what I have, including this very computer that I'm writing out this blog on. And at the same time, I wouldn't mind having an iPad, that way I can shpeeeeeel about my life via a tablet and be very cool-like. It's become second nature for us. It's our culture.
And yet the more I think about what being well pleased is like, the more the word content comes to mind. It's a foreign concept, and not one you'll often find in the American culture. To me, if you're content with what you have, you're pleased with it. It means you aren't looking for something else to satisfy you. You're completely ok with having just a computer instead of having a computer AND wanting that iPad.
Having more will not bring me to God. That's not the path to righteousness. However, being content with what you have, being thankful for what you currently have, that can bring you to God. Because when you're content-thankful-with what you have, you can focus that desire and energy for stuff on God instead. It's a lesson I've learned and re-learned countless times.
I could go further, but this post has taken two weeks to develop :)
Closing words: Be THANKFUL. Be Content.
No comments:
Post a Comment