Chaplain's Corner

He was simply ungrateful. I remember him well, he came to the church I was pastoring asking for help. It was as if he expected the help, feeling as if we owed it to him, after all, we were a church. It was a bitter experience and gave me a small sense as to why many people who work hard to help others sometimes become discouraged. But to be honest I too am ungrateful more often than I would like to admit.

Think about the number of people that serve us every day:  the fellow who pumps our gas, the woman who checks us through at the grocery store, the doctor we see to have our prescriptions renewed, the neighbor that goes out of his way to help, even the Tim Horton’s gal that serves up your double-double each morning. How many times do we say, “Thank you”?

A few months ago a patient that I had cared for at the hospital gave me a card. It read, “I’d like to thank you so much for being there for me. You were such a wonderful support and you helped me so much. You are an extremely nice man. Oh, you’re funny too!” I don’t do my work looking for thanks, but when it is expressed it encourages me. We don’t care just to get thanks, but when gratitude is expressed, it lifts our spirits and helps us realize that what we do for others isn’t unnoticed.

If you are a Mom or Dad, you know the feeling that comes from giving and giving and giving and rarely hearing a “Thank you”. I am quite sure that we all know what it feels like to get the sense that all we do is “expected”. OK, it is. I expect the fellow at the gas station to pump the gas (when I pull up to a pump where that service is provided). I expect the waiter at the restaurant to keep my water glass full. I expect the mechanic who fixes my car to do a good job. But expectation does not preclude gratitude.

In our homes we all are expected to do things. At our house I’m the guy expected to get the trash to the curb each Monday morning. My wife is expected to do the banking. We share the cooking and laundry and house cleaning duties. But this doesn’t mean that we are excused from saying “Thank you”.

Parents, when was the last time you thanked your kids? Oh, we are quick to remind them that they haven’t cleaned up their room, or that they need to turn the TV off and get their homework done. But when was the last time we said “Thank you” when they did the dishes, or showed responsibility or initiative.

I wonder about God in this regard. We expect God to do so much. He does so much. But do we say thanks? Oh, the perfunctory meal time grace is fine, but when was the last time we sat down and thought about how much God does for us and took the time to say “Thank you” from the depths of our heart. On January 31, 1957, the Parliament of Canada declared: “A Day of General Thanksgiving to God Almighty for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed – to be observed on the second Monday of October.” Most of us get the day off but do we spend any time giving thanks to God Almighty?

Why don’t we try that this Thanksgiving Day? Take ten  minutes and sit down and think about all that God has and continues to do for you – then from the bottom of your heart say, “Thank You.” Then try an experiment. For a day, just one day, say thank you to everyone who serves you and see what a difference it makes.