In our staff meeting on Wednesday, Gwen, Linda, Steve and I spent some good time reflecting on Psalm 107, which starts with the words found in the praise song “Forever:” Give thanks to the Lord, our God and King, His love endures forever.
We reflected on the question, “What are you thankful to God for in your life?” What followed was an impromptu discussion that ranged from family to church to job to wise people and other things. But starting from that discussion about what made us thankful, we dropped our guards and began talking about all sorts of things that were helpful to one another.
Staff meeting is normally a check-up meeting to see what tasks we have been working on, and what things we are working on in the next week, but this week it was dominated in the first half by a time of spiritual connectedness and mutual concern that was very meaningful, at least for me.
While we generally get along well, our busy schedules prevent us from taking much time to catch up and really talk about what is on our minds, and on this occasion, what set the table for our discussion was thinking about our gratitude to God. It seemed to open things up for everyone.
I want to invite you to do the same thing with a group of people you know. Taking the time to share with others in this manner becomes a time of feasting on thankfulness, especially when what can sometimes pervade in our lives is negativity about a variety of things. A chance to hear about what others are thankful for can help to increase our own sense of gratitude to God, and that kind of outlook can change our day, or perhaps more.
Blessings to you, and I hope that worship is a real encounter with the Spirit of God today.
Blessings, Sonny