Saturday, April 6, 2019

A simple thank You


            A poem by Mary Oliver--

      Pay Attention.
      Be astonished.
      Tell about it.

        Thankful for these words today.  Because if ever there's a season when we need to wake up, pay attention, be astonished, and share our wonder and our thankfulness to our Almighty Creator, it is spring.  Beauty explodes all around us. Are we too busy to notice? Or too familiar with the turn of the seasons to be stunned by the riotous rebirth of color and scent?  Or too preoccupied to thank the Giver of all good gifts?
        I couldn't help but think of a line from The Color Purple.  (I'll rephrase it just a tad to avoid using one ugly word.)  "I think it irritates [not the word originally used!] God if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it." 
        Okay, okay I know God doesn't grow irritated, but surely He intends for His children to pay attention, to be astonished and to rejoice in and thank Him for His magnificent handiwork.  We surely don't want to sleepwalk through spring...or any day for that matter.  So--
  Thank You, Lord, for the fragrance of the hyacinths and for the remarkable shade of purple.  Even the name "purple" makes you want to smile.  What a wildly creative Lord!  Aren't you thankful He made colors?  And--
        Thank You for sweet Mr. Bingley lounging in the warm, spring sun. 
        Thank You for the sound of the owl this morning, the brilliant red of the cardinal on the greenway, the burgeoning green all around us, they symmetry of the geese flying overhead.  Thank You for the budding pinks and whites of the dogwood in every yard.  Thank You for the warmth of the sun and the scent of cut grass and flowers all around us.
          Thank You for the priceless gift of our family and friends.  Thank You for life.  And thank You most of all for Jesus, our Savior.   
          Lord, help us to pay attention to all You are constantly doing all around us and in us.  Might we never lose our sense of wonder and astonishment at Your goodness and grace. And so, Father, thank You. A very simple, very inadequate, but heartfelt, thank You. 
          To God be the glory.


No comments:

Post a Comment