Our gratitude can’t be stopped here, can’t be limited to this place and time. We can’t keep quiet about the gratitude that flows out of us for the awesome things God has done in our lives or the gratitude that has surprised us by arising from the depths of despair. We can and we must speak of our gratitude to a world that is forgetting how to say “thank you” to each other as well as to God. Perhaps this is the way we can best be witnesses of God’s grace to the world around us. To say “grateful” whenever someone asks how we are. Their surprise at our response would give us an opportunity to talk about how good God is to us and to invite conversation about God’s goodness in their lives. Let’s agree to talk about our witnessing when we meet, about the ways we are growing in gratitude and in our ability to share it with others.
This message is adapted from “How Are You?” written by Sue Gamelin in the November 2002 issue of Lutheran Woman Today (now Gather) magazine. This is a day of Thanksgiving in the U.S.