Ron Baker

Yesterday in church some people were very thankful that their harvesting have been completed.  For urban folks, that means the combines and grain trucks are retired for the year.  Well, not quite!  The trucks are hauling grain to elevators (grain distribution centers), and the vehicles that have lasted through the harvest season will be examined and repaired for the next year’s crop.

The sky is clear today and no dust is swirling around.  As I look through the study window, the crispness of the temperature and the turning of leaves reminds me that winter is on the way. 

I had encouraged our church people to use Thanksgiving as an anti-complaint time.  One of the parishioners, after church, mentioned that he was a Leafs fan, and they were playing in the afternoon.  At 0-3 this year, he was trying hard not to complain but to see the bright side. 

We discussed the last time the Leafs won a Stanley Cup (1967) which was before he was born.  That was the year my parents moved to Toronto for a few years sojourn.  I lived in heady days of expectation of the next Stanley Cup – which still hasn’t happened!  He had just read about it.

I walked away reminded that next year is a new year, regardless of how this year goes.  The greatest our anxiety can do for us is create physical upset and emotional unrest.  How to really trust God in the midst of all this is the real point. 

May we find thankfulness to God for all he has done will lead us to trust Him more and more.

As I was journaling today, I noted a slight change in my approach.

Usually, I grab my pen and begin to feverishly record any thoughts that come to mind.  Each thought starts a new paragraph. 

Lately I’ve been moving to the new paragraph quickly – before I even finish the thought I’m currently recording.  The reason has been that I will forget what I is emerging in my brain if I don’t write it down.

And that has often been true.  I’ve tried to go back and recall a thought, but somehow my memory recall has been lacking.  Soon you become anxious that you might miss something.  For that reason, you move one quickly.

This last while my brain has been much more stable.  I actually can hold a thought, with good memory retention, for a few minutes.  That means that I finish my original paragraph – with all that is included in that – before moving on.

What a relief!  If any one reads my journals in years to come, they might even be able to figure out what I was thinking!!  If fact, if I ever right my own memoirs, I might be able to figure out what I was up to!

Yesterday I had the great opportunity to ride with a friend whom I had not spent much time with in the last while.

As we travelled, we talked.  Good look over our lives in the last while.  Our travels, emotions, and life in general.  Then one of us asked – so is there anything else we haven’t talked about yet?

Of course, there were a thousand things.  But we had covered the bases in the catch up mode.  And then, there was the exploratory mode.  Where we begin to challenge each other, or expose our thoughts and dreams.  I suppose most discussions have that type of progression. 

Most coffee shop discussions are on the catch up level.  That’s where we become jealous of the regulars who meet once a week.  You know the talk begins on the surface, but soon they have solved the world’s problems and know each other’s schedules and somehow have an innate ability to support each other.

Find a coffee group – not a bad thing in life.

As we approach Canadian Thanksgiving, I have been preparing to speak on the matter of gratitude.

I appreciate those around me who have taken a stand that they will begin the day with thanksgiving. Others are conscious that negative and destructive actions, words and thoughts are not a good thing for themselves or for those who surround them.

I suggested this past Sunday that we take an “Anti-Complaint” day as we work through the Thanksgiving weekend.  I’ve been trying a little practice this week and just getting through a short time period requires real intentionality – let alone a full day.  Maybe I”m not as thankful as I could be?

I also referred to the French words for Thanksgiving day.  They talk of a day that looks at the actions of grace.  As well, you are encouraged to give actions of grace to others.

Both approaches to Thanksgiving tune us into the heart of gratitude.  We have been given much and we need to give much. 

May you find an attitude of gratitude welling up within you this week.