Wednesday, June 19,
2013
“Count your many blessings” was my
theme for the day and I went to an expert for definition. Here are a few thoughts from our prophet that
I’m sure are familiar to you. He has
given several talks on gratitude and it is always inspiring to read them again.
We are thankful for blessings we cannot
measure, for gifts we cannot appraise, “for books, music, art, and for the
great inventions which make these blessings available[;] … for the laughter of
little children[;] … for the … means for relieving human suffering … and
increasing … the enjoyment of life[;] … for everything good and uplifting.” 8
The prophet Alma urged, “Counsel with the
Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest
down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep;
and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God;
and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.” 9
The story is told of a group of men who were
talking about people who had influenced their lives and for whom they were
grateful. One man thought of a high school teacher who had introduced him to
Tennyson. He decided to write and thank her. In time, written in a feeble
scrawl, came the teacher’s reply:
“My Dear Willie:
“I can’t tell you how
much your note meant to me. I am in my 80s, living alone in a small room,
cooking my own meals, lonely and like the last leaf lingering behind. You will
be interested to know that I taught school for 50 years, and yours is the first
note of appreciation I have ever received. It came on a blue, cold morning, and
it cheered me as nothing has for years.”
We owe an eternal debt of gratitude to all of
those, past and present, who have given so much of themselves that we might
have so much ourselves.
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