Holy Spirit, remind me to give thanks to the Lord ….

 
Luke 17:11-19

 
When my three-year old granddaughter sits across the supper table from me, takes a bite of the day’s cooking and says, “Thank you, Nana, for making this delicious dinner,” my heart melts -  and rejoices in this new word just added to her vocabulary! She gets it! The toys and glue sticks spread across the living room floor become mere vestiges of her brilliance, rather than a tedious mess to be cleaned up at end of day. Scissors and flashlights missing from their usual hooks become insignificant, and I immediately sense the bond of mutual love and respect between us.  Surely this is the way Christ Jesus and (Grand!) Father God respond when I take time to ‘turn back’ and voice my thanks and gratitude to the Lord for any small mercy received. Surely their hearts likewise rejoice that I’m finally ‘getting it’ and am learning to use the adult spiritual language that springs from the Holy Spirit of God. And perhaps this is how my small and not so small errors and omissions of sin can be so easily forgiven by our Heavenly Father. Certainly prayers of thanks for God’s loving kindness create a bond of love and respect between me and my God.  Indeed, as Roslind Rinker states, “Gratitude is a heart opener” both for the one speaking it and the one hearing it.  Will I take time today to open my heart to give thanks to the Lord and then witness His heart opening up to me?  Holy Spirit, remind me to give thanks to the Lord.
 
Give thanks to the Lord for He is good and his love endures forever.  (Psalm 118:1)
 
Prayer’s function is to set God at the center of your attention, and forget yourself and the impression you are making on others.
Rosalind Rinker, Prayer: How to Have a Conversation with God
 
 
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
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