{"id":3186,"date":"2023-11-23T08:01:24","date_gmt":"2023-11-23T13:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=3186"},"modified":"2023-11-23T08:01:24","modified_gmt":"2023-11-23T13:01:24","slug":"a-question-about-thanks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/23\/a-question-about-thanks\/","title":{"rendered":"A Question about Thanks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here<\/a>

During the month of November, we\u2019re taking a look at 21 essential activities of the Holy Spirit, who represents God\u2019s presence in and through every follower of Jesus.<\/em>
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A number of years ago a well-dressed man in his early 30s visited our church on a Sunday morning.
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I noticed him in the back of the sanctuary.\u00a0 He seemed shy.\u00a0 He slipped out before the end of the service.
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After three or four more Sunday visits, he waited patiently while the sanctuary emptied.\u00a0 He approached me.\u00a0 He introduced himself and asked if I might have time to talk with him during the week.\u00a0 \u201cOf course,\u201d I answered.\u00a0 \u201cI have a question I hope you can help me with,\u201d he said.\u00a0 And we set a date and time to get together.
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I wondered what question he might be pondering.\u00a0 Pastors typically get to address a great many interesting issues.
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How much water does it take to be properly baptized: just a splash on the top of the head, or full immersion?
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How can God bear all the pain and suffering in the world?\u00a0 Why doesn\u2019t God do something about that?
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If there\u2019s only one God, why are there so many religious options out there \u2013 Methodists and Muslims and Mormons and Mennonites and everything in between?\u00a0\u00a0
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Does God care about our pets, and is it possible we\u2019ll see them in heaven?
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Does God care about us<\/u><\/em>, and is it possible there really is such a thing as heaven?
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When I sat down with the shy, well-dressed man a few days later, he didn\u2019t ask any of those questions.\u00a0 He explained that his young daughter had recently been diagnosed with a serious illness.\u00a0 But her doctor had found it in its early stages.\u00a0 He had acted quickly before it could significantly damage her health.
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Now it seemed clear that their wildest hopes had come true.\u00a0 She was going to grow up.\u00a0 She would get to enjoy all the adventures of childhood and the craziness of adolescence.\u00a0
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Maybe she would go to college one day.\u00a0 Perhaps he would walk her down the aisle and gently place her hand into the hand of a handsome young man, and they might have a family of their own.\u00a0 She would work and serve and travel and make mistakes and make amends and make friends and maybe even make a difference in the world.
\u00a0
She was going to live<\/em>.\u00a0
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Then he said to me, quietly and humbly, \u201cI\u2019m so overwhelmed with gratitude.\u00a0 I know that I need to thank someone.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I\u2019ve been coming to church these past few weeks, for the first time in my life.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what I\u2019d like to ask:\u00a0 Could you please tell me who to thank?<\/em>\u201d
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Looking back over 45 years of ministry, that was perhaps the most poignant and memorable conversation I have ever had.\u00a0
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It may be that life\u2019s most important journey is learning who to thank.\u00a0
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And making the discovery that there really is Someone deserving of every expression of gratitude.\u00a0
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May God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit bless you richly this Thanksgiving.\u00a0
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And may your heart overflow with thanks<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here During the month of November, we\u2019re taking a look at 21 essential activities of the Holy Spirit, who represents God\u2019s presence in and through every follower of Jesus.\u00a0A number of years ago a well-dressed man in his early 30s visited our church on a Sunday morning.\u00a0I noticed him in the back… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3186"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3188,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3186\/revisions\/3188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}