It is the day before Thanksgiving and all through the house — Oh, wait, that is another season. Anyway, on this day before Thanksgiving, I want to suggest a small event that I think you will find helpful in your own life.
Find one half-hour and go some place where you will not be disturbed. Having quieted yourself, begin to reflect on your life from as early as you can remember. In some sections of your life, it might be helpful to do it in three or four year chunks, although in certain crowded junctures, you may have to focus on a particular year. What you are to do is to review the major events of each period and identify events, people, or moments for which you are thankful. Don’t neglect the negative events if in retrospect you can now see a redemptive result having emerged out of the experience. That doesn’t justify what happened but only allows us to see how “in everything, God can work for good.”
Since you are only going to take a brief time doing this, don’t dwell on the events but simply note them. For many people it is helpful to make a brief note on a pad of each event. Don’t describe it fully. You can do that later if you want. For now just put down a brief description that will recall it later. My guess is that you will be infused with a strong spirit of thanksgiving by the time you are through. It is also an opportunity to recognize that you have not been alone in your life but that there has been an “invisible hand” guiding you.
Happy Thanksgiving.
