"From Whom All Blessing Flow"

The father of a childhood friend of mine had a favorite saying which he recited every time anyone sat down at his dinner table: "Get all you want, but eat all you get." I passed that little homily along to my daughter as she was growing up and to her many friends who often frequented our dinner table in the hopes that she and they would learn the parallel lesson of "Waste Not, Want Not." I can't speak for daughter Megan's friends, but at age 22 I am assured that she has learned that lesson well and will one day impart that tidbit of wisdom along to her own children.

I am often reminded of my friend's father's saying, particularly at this time of the year, when I stop in our neighborhood supermarket, one of dozens of such establishments scattered throughout our city, and walk the aisles consciously in amazement at the endless selection of edible consumables that line to the brim every shelf as far as the eye can gaze. As citizens of this fallible yet so great a country, we are in deed so very blessed. We are a nation of insatiable consumers and, unfortunately, too often squanderers in equal measure. We throw away more in a day than some families in desolate parts of the world will ever have an opportunity to consume in a life time. We have become so accustomed to such renewable bounty that we give little thought or care to just how much we casually discard as unsatisfactory to maintaining our inflated sense of entitlement. It's not that we are deliberately callous in embracing such a caviler attitude, it's just that we are absentmindedly accustomed to being spoiled by the many blessings of our birthright.

Every child has no doubt heard the stern admonishment from a parent when the child stubbornly refuses to eat a particular food item that was placed on their plate: "You need to eat the rest of your peas, young man. There are children in China who would kill to have such good food as your are wasting." The wise crack reply, wisely withheld in abeyance, "Well, name just one and we'll wrap up these little suckers right now and ship them on over!" The fact of the matter remains, whether the peas eventually get eaten or left on the plate, there are so many far less fortunate souls in this world that will be going hungry yet another day as we sit before our Thanksgiving banquet on Thursday. This obvious observation is not intended to be a downer for that day, but an appeal to each of us to be mindfully thankful for all that we receive as a sustenance blessing on that day and all of the days that follow which are provided through the unmerited graciousness of our God in Heaven. Whether by spoken prayer or the reverant bowing of one's head, look to your heart and be thankful for family, loved ones and friends, and remember also the men and women that serve each of us in our armed forces. Their families won't have them at their family banquet this year. Pray that they will be welcomed home soon to celebrate next year's Thanksgiving. What a blessing that will be.

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Happy Thanksgiving.