What Are You Thankful For? The Positive Side of Counting Our Blessings.

I know, I know. It sounds like something your grandparents, mother or father would say to you at the worst possible moment. Everyone has those days where they want to go home, grab a drink and throw in the towel or sulk in front of the TV.

Sometimes it is to easy to throw your hands up to heaven screaming, "What the heck Lord? What are you doing up there on your throne? Can't you see I can use some help down here? I have family issues! My current relationship is a mess! My job is pathetic! Can’t you help me?"

My recent complaint, being a single guy between jobs is, "I keep getting passed over for jobs I would love to have! What's going on? Why does that girl like that guy? What does he have that I don't? Where are you Lord?"

Been there, done that a lot recently. Let’s face it, when the tidal wave of negativity is set to ensue you, the easiest thing to do is go along for the ride. However, just as tidal wave engulfs and eventually destroys everything in its path, negativity, frustration and anger eventually do the same to us.

How can you keep from swallowing this bitter pill which life seemingly hands you on an all-too-frequent basis?

The traditional Thanksgiving passage from Luke 17:11-19 holds a key to finding ways to weather this storm. If you have been to mass on this traditional holiday, you may recognize this reading of Christ encountering the ten lepers.

In Jesus’ time, leprosy was a highly contagious, flesh-eating disease. Those who contracted it were cast into colonies and isolated from friends, family, businesses as well as the rest of society. Talk about having life bear down on you and swallow up your hopes and dreams for the future!

Ten leprous men saw Jesus coming on the road to Jerusalem and implored him to heal them. Christ gave them a simple instruction, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” The passage recounts that as the lepers were on their way, they realized they had been cleansed. One of the lepers realizing he was healed came back to thank Jesus for what he gave to him.

Writing about this passage really hits home in a personal way. One time, when I was in the confessional, the priest’s penance was to sit in the pew for five minutes and merely reflect on God’s Blessings in my life.

I walked out of there thinking, ”Whew, that was easy!”

Then I knelt down in the pew and began reflecting on the blessings I had been given. Family, friends, education, the neighborhood I grew up in, my love of nature among many other things I had always taken for granted. Astonishingly, the negativity melted away into the realization of what He had given to me and how unworthy I was to receive it!

When you count your blessings an incredible shift takes place not only in your mind but your heart.

- You focus on the positive, not the negative.

- You see how far you have traveled in life and not merely how much further you have to go.

- You realize how blessed you are as a person instead of focusing on what you lack.

- You realize how incredibly loved you are by friends, family, and a beloved!

- You realize with incredible humility all the gifts you have been given and you wish to share them with others!

- You learn about yourself: your blessings reveal your strengths and the good qualities about you which others adore and appreciate!

- When you sit back and reflect on the good things in life, you realize how much God loves, wants and needs you on this earth to share that love with a world so in need of it!

- You realize Our Lady’s significance in your life, as your own Mother in Heaven, who loves you, desires you and cradles you in her arms, gently affirming who you are as her very own son or daughter!

As so often happens before Christmas, we take things for granted. Like the other nine lepers, when we focus on other issues, anxieties and difficulties in life, not only the ordinary but extraordinary moments tend to pass us by.

I tend to do that all too often and shamefully, I take God’s mercy for granted all too often, as I did with that one confession.

However, when we stop and realize the countless blessings we have been given in life, (yes, on this side of eternity, it will never be perfect), what more can we do than imitate this leper and get on our knees in gratitude to God? What greater gift can we give Our Lady than the affection in our hearts, as child does their mother? When repayment is not possible a simple “Thank You” is more than enough.

In this Advent Season, the greatest gift God has given a world in darkness is His only Son, the Light of Life (Jn 1:4-5) brought to us through the Woman Clothed with the Sun with the Moon under her feet! (Rev 12:1) All they need is for us to step forward, not in fear but eternal gratitude for the gifts and blessings they have bestowed on us. They will not only show you what you have been blessed with but reveal the ways which they wish to continue to bless your life with: love, friendship, family and recognition of your God-given worth. Christ did this for the lepers, even when they turned their back on him. He has done it for me after having turned my back on him so often. He can and will do it for you in this blessed Advent Season!