“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful to him and bless his name.”

                                                                                                Psalm 100:4

A man was out walking deep in the woods one day and came upon a barn hidden away deep in the trees. He went up to the barn and just as he got there who walked out but ole’ Slewfoot himself: Satan.  The man asked what Satan what he could he possibly have that needed to be kept in a barn.

Satan said that in that barn was where he kept all his seeds that were ready to be sown in the human heart. The man noticed that one stall was significantly higher with seeds than any other, and he asked Lucifer what kind of seeds those were.

“Well,” Beelzebub said, “those are my seeds of discouragement. They are especially useful and potent because those seeds can be made to grow almost anywhere.”

The man replied, “You said ‘almost’ anywhere. Where won’t they grow?”

The devil, exasperated, sighed and said, “In the heart . . . of a thankful person”.

In a few days we will get up and watch the parades – if they have them – and then we’ll watch the Westminster Dog Show that comes on before the football games star – if they have it. (Yuk.)  Then we’ll sit around a table full of good food and spend some noisy time with our family. Or more likely, because of the virus, we’ll be in very small groups “Zooming” folks in. We will stuff ourselves silly and then go take a nap.

I pray that this very different year will be a time where we can truly give thanks - even in the midst of all that’s going on in our world - and realize to Whom those thanks need to be directed. For the Lord our God is good; his mercy endures forever; his faithfulness endures to all generations.

“Father, Thank you for Your blessings and presence in our lives. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”