November 19, 2001

EDITORIAL:
In this season of sadness, decide to be grateful
___This week, let us tune our hearts in the key of gratitude.
___Thankfulness hasn't come easily this year. The tragedy of Sept. 11 seared terror into our souls. We still struggle to fathom so much hate causing so many deaths rippling out to impact so many millions of lives. The economy took a dive, forcing workers from their jobs and families to the brink of destitution. Before this fall, who but farmers and ranchers even gave two thoughts about anthrax? And just last week, another plane fell from the sky, freezing us in our tracks as we wondered whether more than 260 people perished because of a new brand of terrorism or old-fashioned mechanical failure.
___These are just the big-ticket items of woe for 2001. Within two or three degrees of separation, each of us can recount personal losses of this year --deaths of friends and loved ones, dissolution of marriages, ravages of disease, disappointments with family members, disappointments with self. You can fill in the blanks for yourself. Whatever our sadnesses, they seem to have been magnified this year by the lens of Sept. 11, through which we see a more weary, wary world.
___Despite so much unfairness of things, this week we try to focus our thoughts on Thanksgiving. Rarely in our history have so many Americans entered this week of November bearing the burden of suffering and loss. As we look back over the past couple of months, we may feel tempted to renounce Thanksgiving and declare a day of Lamentation. Rather than pondering Pilgrims and turkeys, we're ruminating on Job and boils.
___Fortunately, gratitude is not visceral. It's not instinctive; it does not spring from the gut. Gratitude, like love (as opposed to infatuation) and joy (as opposed to happiness), is an emotion of the will. We are grateful because we decide we shall be, whatever the specific circumstances.
___This is difficult to learn. For much of my life, I could not understand. I watched in amazement as my mother and father thanked God with grateful hearts in the face of some of life's harshest blows-- near-fatal illness of a child, loss of job and financial security, disappointment with people in whom they had placed trust, a tornado's devastation. They were grateful for God's peaceful presence, for each other and the love of family and friends, for the intangible blessings that cannot be knocked loose by the storms of life. They were grateful because they believed in Jesus, trusted the Father and leaned on the power of the Holy Spirit. They were grateful because they decided to be grateful.
___Now, more than just about any time in recent memory, we need to be grateful, to say thanks to God. So what if it doesn't come easily this year? Let your expression of gratitude be an act of willpower and worship. I'm going to make a list of some of the things for which I'm grateful. You make your own list, and we'll all feel more grateful, not to mention closer to the Lord.
___I'm thankful for:
___ My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, whose grace saved me, whose Spirit sustains me and whose word guides me.
___ Joanna, my wife. The love of my life, mother of our daughters, best friend, soulmate, No. 1 fan, personal comedienne.
___ Lindsay and Molly, dearest daughters on Earth, who know me oh-so-well and love me anyway.
___ Marvin and Margaret Knox, my parents, who live at home what Daddy preaches in the pulpit.
___ The rest of my family, living and dead, by blood and marriage, whose voices and laughter always sound like the music of heaven.
___ Friends who have made themselves family to us. They know who they are, and life never would have been so precious without them.
___ Betsy, our dog. Everyone needs someone who doesn't know what kind of day you had. And doesn't particularly care.
___ Ice tea, chips and salsa, guacamole salad and beef enchiladas covered in chile con carne and cheese.
___ Friday night football. It's not just the game, you understand. It's kids working together to do something. It's the thrill of the drill team, the blast of the band, the chant of the cheerleaders and the sense of community in the stands.
___ Good books. And rare time to read them.
___ Rain, even when I just washed my car.
___ Toothpaste, toilet paper and deodorant, if not for me, then for you.
___ The smell of clean cotton sheets.
___ A new (to me, at least) chorus that speaks to the central truth of a personal encounter with Jesus, "I will never be the same again."
___ Boots and jeans.
___ The chance to run and, for a moment at least, imagine I'm 16 again.
___ The Baptist General Convention of Texas. It's not perfect, but it's Texas Baptists, trusting God and trying to be the presence of Jesus in this world.
___ The Baptist Standard--my job, my holy opportunity to try to make a difference.
___ Hymns, but also many praise choruses, symphonies, bluegrass and country, swing and folk. Music is the voice of the soul.
___ A good night's sleep.
___ Dawn and sunset.
___ Release of Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer.
___ Our nation. It's not perfect, but God has blessed us with freedom. May we show our gratitude through our stewardship of our blessings.
___ —Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com



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