Thanksgiving

I got up this morning feeling OK, but not “normal”. My gut was growling and my throat was a little ticklish. I wondered if I was coming down with something after this holiday period when I rubbed shoulders with lots of people I don’t normally see very often. Turns out I feel fine now. Maybe it was just something I ate that didn’t quite agree with me and wanted me and my gut wanted me to know it wasn’t happy.
But as I was sitting this morning before church, thinking about my situation, I heard the furnace come on. I didn’t think much about it except to think that I was glad I didn’t have to head out back to the woodpile in this wind and cold to fetch wood for the stove or fireplace…especially feeling the way I was at the time.
A few minutes later, I went into the bathroom and had the occasion to run the water there. Again, I thought that I sure was glad I didn’t have to go out to the well and lower a bucket or pump the pump jack, or walk a mile or so to the nearest stream and carry water back to the house. The thought came to me again regarding hot water. I was glad I didn’t have to heat water over the stove or fireplace to get hot water for a bath.
Then I thought, “How did people survive in the olden days when they got the flu or a serious illness, and didn’t have automatic furnaces, running water, or hot water, or had animals that needed tending to?” Can you imagine yourself with a bad case of the stomach flu and having to chop wood, pump water, or milk the cow anyway? People in those days didn’t always have other family members to help, and had no way to contact someone else (neighbor or friend) to come help them.
And I can certainly imagine someone living by himself who gets really sick, cannot do those daily things that meant survival, and died of cold or dehydration. People of not many generations ago had to do things every day to assure survival for that day.
Nowadays, we don’t have to worry that much about it. The furnace will cycle on and off without our constant attention. The water faucet will run without our having to make it do so. Our waste will be flushed down the sewer and out of sight and mind. And we probably have enough food in the house to last for many, many days. If all else fails, we can call, email, or contact someone to come help us until we can get on our feet. If we have no one else, 911 is always available.
Do we understand the blessings we enjoy and the comfort, security, and safety that comes just by having potable water come out of a faucet whenever we want it? Little House on the Prairie was a feel-good show, and in some ways we’d like to reclaim some of that innocence. But those times were also tough and hard, unforgiving and even merciless toward those who were weak, infirm, or incapacitated in some way. I don’t think we want to go back there.
You don’t have to feel guilty because you have these blessings, and you don’t have to sell everything you have and go live under a bridge somewhere. But I would ask that you stop for just a moment and look around you, and breathe a prayer of thanksgiving for those things that are so routine and part of your life; yet are so vital to your well-being and health. And then I’d like for you to consider sharing this year with some of our number who may not have running water, automatic heat, or weeks worth of groceries. You might just find that you come to appreciate these things even more.