- Dear Bruce (17)
- Uncategorized (134)
- 19. November 2008: Shouting for help in a mass of "hushers"
- 18. November 2008: More Opportunity, more need, more reach!
- 5. November 2008: History...past, present, and future
- 31. October 2008: Brightest Day and Darkest Night
- 23. October 2008: I want to be "normal"! Or do I?
- 15. October 2008: Marcia Brady, Economic Turmoil, and Boundaries
- 13. October 2008: A Love Story
- 7. October 2008: Allocating for disaster
- 2. October 2008: What a ride (A dedication to Don Audibert and his family)
- 30. September 2008: I need a rescue plan!
A Week of Thanks
C.S. Lewis wrote in The Weight of Glory:
We are half-hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.
Bloggers,
This week we are going to take a little different approach to things. Rather than offer you a long treatise on any given topic, I am simply going to offer thoughts and prayers of thanks. In our holiday driven society it seems that we have all but lost the ability to pause and give thanks. Within hours of November 1 nearly every major retailer had the Christmas decorations going full throttle. Like you, I am certainly pro-Christmas, but for reasons other than most retailers and consumers are pro-Christmas. I am looking forward to celebrating the birth of Christ. I love the music, the contagious enthusiasm, the smiles, the gifts, and central meaning for the celebration. But I don’t want to miss what this week is all about–gratitude.
So today, in keeping with the holiday theme and to kick off our week of thanks, I again offer, the quote above from C.S. Lewis. Think on it today, and give thanks that God is able to offer us a true Holiday of the Soul as we turn to Him for life, meaning, purpose, and hope.
In stark contrast to the detours (false holidays) offered to us by the temptations we face each day, God offers us the peace and joy which comes only as we take Him up on the offer of life to the full. Give a prayer of thanks today for all God has delivered you from. Offer Him your prayer of thanks for giving you eyes to see where the Holiday of the Soul is truly found.
I am thankful for each of you, and thankful for the life I have been given by the Giver of Life Himself.
Again, C.S. Lewis wrote in The Weight of Glory:
We are half-hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.
Thankfully,
Bruce Smith
optimuslife.org