Matt's Muzings
A Leader is to Be Thankful
August 2007 Volume 9 Issue 79
Greetings!
A leader is to be thankful. There are no excuses or reasons why he shouldn't be. We are to give thank in all things. He knows it is one of the strongest currencies in any community.
What does it mean for a leader to be thankful?
I want to define it by sharing with you what I think a thankful heart is like. Trying to understand it is like trying to grasp water with my hand in order to get a drink. I can feel it. I can see it. I know where it is and it isn't, and it refreshes when I finally taste it, but the process of trying to explain can be difficult. So here is my attempt:
A Thankful heart is like:
Old photographs. Memories captured and held captive to color that hold a feeling, a reminder, a sense of the unspoken, of the people who have seen things in me, believed things in me, or hoped for things in me that others or I didn't or couldn't see. A joyous reminder that others played a part in making me, who I am. I remember and am thankful.
A Thankful heart is like:
Glasses. It is easy to forget how bad my sight is without them. I quickly overlook the fact that my eyes are weak and have lost the ability to keep a proper focus. My eyes show me a blurry world and tell me it is normal. I don't know how bad my sight is, until I put the glasses on. When I do, they clarify life, putting each piece in place. Revealing a proper perspective as I see things as they really are. The glasses are thankfulness.
A Thankful heart is like:
A child. Children don't worry about earning the food that is placed on the table. They don't struggle to have to validate themselves and prove their position in the family. They just accept they have a place that no one can take. They just embrace their place, as it is, a gift of love from parents that brought them there to express to them the overflow of their love for each other. I can be thankful I am forever a beloved child with my heavenly father.
A Thankful heart is like:
Medicine. My body lives in a world that wants to destroy it. It is constantly under attack; besieged and confronted daily. Once in a while, a weakness is exposed and I am brought down. I am momentarily taken out of the race. I look for help and find it in those who know more than me and show me what medicine to take. I make a choice to swallow, sometimes a harsh tasting medicine, and let it do it's work. It holds off the attack and let's my body heal itself and gets me back into the race. Giving thanks protects me from self-pity, bitterness, jealousy and pride.
A Thankful heart is like:
Laughter. I see something rich and wonderful from a different perspective. I am caught off-guard from my normally defensive place and it erupts from me; unpretentious, spontaneous, as pure as a mountain stream, unhindered and unguarded. It is there before I even have a chance to stop it. It is a moment of pure joy. Thankfulness is the well that joy springs from.
More ideas come to mind: a clay jar broken with a treasure found inside, an expensive air-conditioned hotel room, a unique gift that I can't wait to give. But I know that each will not truly capture what thanksgiving is like.
I guess there is no way to explain it.
We must try and convey it. We must share it, listening, watching, holding it, waiting like a lover for it, as it is lived out before us. When thankfulness does appear, it is then, I am reminded of what I have to be thankful for and life is richer still.
Who have you thanked lately. Be specific and clear. Look them in the eyes and let it be something that rises from your heart as a precious gift offered to them.
Thank you for reading this and standing with Celia and I. We deeply appreciate it.
May God richly bless you,
Matt and Celia
1Ch 16:34 O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.