Not every single thing in my life is exactly the way I want it to be right now. And so, what I thought about doing was running the list for you. I look at the list every day, and I frequently revise it. I mean, after all, you never can tell when something else is going to go awry and when you’ll therefore be able to add to your carefully composed list of all that’s not right. So, my list of all the things in my life that aren’t exactly the way I want them to be right now contains about 473 items. Yes, I understand that it will take me a while to read that list to you. How much time do you have? And, I forgot to mention that it’s going to take a lot more time than just reading the list, because each item on the list has a story, an often sad story about what went wrong and how everything got messed up. So, if I share my list and tell my stories, it should take more than a good week or two for me to thoroughly introduce you to everything in my life that’s not exactly the way I want it to be right now.

Excuse me? You have list, too. The list of everything in your life that’s not exactly the way you want it to be. Hmm. And, you have stories as well? Okay, we could be here a while. We’re definitely going to need some food, so I’ll call Roger over at Hunan Inn and he can bring us some good Chinese.

We’re also going to need some equipment for this activity. I can think of three things that are essential for people like you and me getting together to share our lists of everything in our lives that’s not exactly the way we want it to be and to share our stories of how we’ve been wronged or aggrieved. First of all, we’re going to need one of those big Styrofoam fingers, because I’m almost certain that some finger-pointing is going to be involved, especially when we get deep into our stories of why things in our lives aren’t exactly the way we want them to be. And, we’re going to need some very finely sharpened number two pencils and a big stack of legal pads, because I’m sure there will some scorekeeping involved. He did that to me. She made me feel that way. That whole thing was their fault.

You know, I think we may need to be reconsider our schedule. This thing is taking on a life of its own. We’re definitely going to need some more time. As I think about it, this activity could become a life’s work, because in this world, there’s always going to be stuff that doesn’t unfold according to our scripts. In this world, there’s always going to be stuff that goes down in a way different than what we had expected. And so, if we wanted to, we could spend a lifetime oriented to what’s not right, to what we think is amiss, to what we opine needs to be different. If we wanted to, we could invest all of our energy in that proverbial empty part of the glass. And, orienting our thoughts toward all of that will make us thoroughly miserable.

“Eeyore, the old gray donkey, stood by the side of the stream, and looked at himself in the water. ‘Pathetic,’ he said. ‘That’s what it is. Pathetic.’ He turned and walked slowly down the stream for twenty yards, splashed across it, and walked slowly back on the other side. Then he looked at himself in the water again. ‘As I thought,’ he said. ‘No better from this side. But, nobody minds. Nobody cares. Pathetic, that’s what it is.’”

That attitude can become a way of life for people. Entire lives can been be spent, or it should more precisely say that entire lives can be wasted viewing reality through the lens of what’s not right.

The person came to the old pastor and inquired about his church.

“I’m looking for a church,” the person said. “What kind of church do you have here, pastor?”

And, the old pastor said, “Tell me about the church you’re coming from.”

“It’s a wonderful church, filled with wonderful people, doing some really wonderful things.”

“That’s what you’ll find here,” the pastor said.

“I’m looking for a church,” another person said to the pastor. “What kind of church do you have here?”

And, the old pastor said to that person, “Tell me about the church you’re coming from.”

“Well, the people aren’t very friendly, and they never sing any of the songs that I like, and the pastor isn’t all that.”

“I’m afraid,” said the old pastor, “that’s pretty much what you’ll find here.”

Jesus said it would be that way. Seek, and you’ll find. Knock, and whatever door you knock on will open.

People become habituated to zeroing in on what’s amiss. People become habituated to knocking on the doors of discontent. People become habituated in seeking after all that’s not what it might be. And, after a while, such a habit brings with it despair and misery and unhappiness and spiritual petrification. It’s sad, but true, that the world is full of spiritually petrified people.

There’s an antidote to that. We’ve already heard about it from our Scripture lessons and our hymns and prayers today. The antidote to spiritual petrification is gratitude—a spirit of thankfulness. A capacity to recognize the life in the things, regardless of, irrespective of, the specific circumstance we face.

You know, we hear a lot about “given circumstances.” “You know, he did pretty well, given the circumstances.” To speak of something as given is to think of that something as a gift. To speak of a circumstance as given is to think of whatever happens as a gift. And, the appropriate response to any gift is gratitude. “Whatever happens,” Paul says, “I’m going to be happy.” Gratitude is the attitude that allows us to remain trusting and free, even when our circumstance is other what we had scripted or less than what we thought we wanted.

And so, some thoughts about how we might live this week. One, say “thanks” at least once every hour for every hour you are awake. Say thanks for the color of the trees. Say thanks for the beauty of the sunset. Say thanks to the cashier. Say thanks to your partner or spouse. Say thanks for your breath. Just once an hour, during your waking hours. Say thanks.

And, when you go to sleep this week, say thanks. Irving Berlin said that a good bedtime activity is to count our blessings. An old Gospel hymn says to name them one by one. And, you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings, so that your sleep may be undertaken in gratitude. And, when you wake up, start making a list, of all the things and all the people and all the opportunities with which your life is blessed, so that your day is begun in gratitude.

One wise person has put the whole thing this way.
It’s not that I don’t want a lot,
Or hope for more, or dream of more
But giving thanks for what I’ve got
Makes me happier than keeping score.
In a world that can bring pain
I will still take each chance.
For I believe that whatever the terrain
Our feet can learn to dance
Whatever stone life may sling
We can moan or we can sing.
Grateful, grateful, duly blessed, and truly grateful.
From John Bucchino, “Grateful”

There’s a thing that you can find today on youtube. I ran across it this week. “The Gratitude Dance.” Find it. Dance it. Live it.

On the other side of a preoccupation with all that’s not right is misery and burden and heaviness and imprisonment. And, on the other of side of gratitude is freedom and trust and release and joy and light and peace and life.

Mark Sargent