Assignment for Day Five: Think of someone you need to thank and write them an old-fashioned thank you note. Even if it’s just to say “thank you for being you.”
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Such a simple thing: writing a "thank you" note. Okay, I said to myself, I can do this. Think about who you owe a note of thanks to. Oh, my. Well, that took about an hour or so more or less. So many people! I owe thanks for the help getting this very computer! I owe thanks for the encouragement I get writing this blog. And there is much thanks due to those among you who listen to me go on about some of the silliest things that truly aren't all that important in the big scheme of things, but seem so very important to me at the time.
Thanks go out to all of you who actually read this blog whenever I write it and don't give up when I don't. Thanks for the kind words that often come my direction unexpectedly but at just the right time. And a big thanks go to the "man upstairs" for all the blessings in my life. Yep, thanks are due, so that is why I set out to write at least one as the directions for this fifth day of lent suggested.
Okay. Yep, that's just what I set out to do.
So I remembered that I had come across some very nice note cards embossed with my name on the front given to me several years ago by a dear friend (thank you BB). I went to my old roll top desk given to me for birthday many years ago (thank you KD). I had to move my laptop which some a good friend helped me pick out when I retired (thanks ML) and search through the stack of bills and mail (thank you service providers) to find them. But I could not find them readily, so I went into the spare bedroom (thank God for the roof over my head) to look. I was sure I had seen them in there when I was sorting and decluttering recently (thanks for the time and energy I have recently been enjoying). No dice.
Okay, then I remembered there were other thank you notes in a drawer (thank you healthier diet for the improved memory) and found some. I sat down and wrote out a thank you. It was simple but heartfelt. It felt so very good I wondered why I didn't do it more often. Of course the excuses piled up around me until I couldn't see over the top and then the wind of personal responsibility blew them all away. "Procrastination be gone!" I commanded. And I wrote one. One simple thank you. A step in the write, I mean right direction. Strangely, it felt so very good.
We don't put pen to paper very much these days. The advent of phones started it and then instant communication via electronic systems has practically made the art of writing the personal note obsolete. So easy to just leave a message or blast out a e-mail. Heartfelt maybe, but nothing like the pleasure of drawing symbols on paper that create words that carry sentiments of appreciation and positive regard to others. Who doesn't enjoy receiving a hand-written note in the mail?
So there you have it. I think the point of this particular exercise was to think about gratitude. We take so much for granted. Taking time to say thank you, whether by a formal note or even just that transient electronic press of the keys on a keyboard, reminds one that when you are in the state of gratitude, you remember just how much we live in the state of grace; and just how much the other people in our lives give us every day.
Thank you to all and to all an owed note may soon be coming.
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Coming for Day Six:
"Give up the television remote. Let someone else control it. You know who you are and if this suggestion is for you."
These assignments continue to come from the UCC Lenten Calendar of Daily Devotionals found at
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