Month: November 2024

Thoughts from here and there…Unthanked people

November 28 is Thanksgiving. This blog has been used before, but it is worth reading again and applying the principles that it contains.

(Just in time for Thanksgiving, Rev. Brian Cavanaugh, TOR, of the Franciscan University in Steubenville, OH relayed the following reflection on “Unthanked people” via e-mail from Steve Goodier. The Joyful Noiseletter, November 1999, page 5)

When William Stidger taught at Boston University, he once reflected upon the great number of unthanked people in his life. People who had helped nurture him, inspire him or cared enough about him to leave a lasting impression.

“One was a schoolteacher he’d not heard of in many years. But he remembered that she had gone out of her way to put a love of poetry in him, and he had loved poetry all his life. He wrote a letter of thanks to her.

“The reply he received, written in the feeble scrawl of the aged, began, ‘My dear Willie.’ He was delighted. Now over 50, bald and a professor, he didn’t think there was a person left in the world who would call him ‘Willie.’ Here is a copy of that letter:

“‘My dear Willie, I cannot tell you how much your note meant to me. I am in my eighties, living alone in a small room, cooking my own meals, lonely and, like the last leaf of autumn, lingering behind. You will be interested to know that I taught school for 50 years and yours is the first note of appreciation I ever received. It came on a blue-cold morning and it cheered me as nothing has in many years.’

“Not prone to cry easily, Stidger wept over that note. She was one of the great unthanked people from Stidger’s past. You know them. We all do. The teacher who made a difference. That coach we’ll never forget. The music instructor or Sunday school worker who helped us to believe in ourselves. That Scout leader who cared.

“We all remember people who shaped our lives in various ways. People whose influence changed us. Will Stidger found a way to show his appreciation—he wrote them letters.

“Who are some of the unthanked people from your past? It may not be too late to say, ‘Thanks.”‘

Thoughts from here and there…Put On A Happy Face

It was what one radio personality called, “a moody and introspective day.” You know when the cloud cover is deep gray, the showers are falling, and you feel somewhat closed in and tired. It is a good day to take a nap, but you have too much to do.

As I was contemplating the day I thought of a song and started to sing “Put on A Happy Face.” by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams that reads:

Put On A Happy Face

Gray skies are gonna clear up
Put on a happy face
Brush off the clouds and cheer up
Put on a happy face

Take off the gloomy mask of tragedy
It’s not your style
You’ll look so good that you’ll be glad
You decide to smile

Pick out a pleasant outlook
Stick out that noble chin
Wipe off that “full of doubt” look
Slap on a happy grin

And spread sunshine all over the place
And put on a happy face

Gray skies are gonna clear up
Put on a happy face
Brush off the clouds and cheer up
Put on a happy face

And if you’re feeling cross and bickerish
Don’t sit and whine
Think of banana splits and licorice
And you’ll feel fine

I knew a girl so gloomy
She’d never laugh or sing
She wouldn’t listen to me
Now she’s a mean old thing

So spread sunshine all over the place
And put on a happy, happy face
Put on a happy, happy, happy face
Oh, come on bubby, smile its your birthday

I thought to myself, “How do you put on a happy face when you are not happy?” There is another song that fits right in here. It is called “Smile.” The tune was written by Charlie Chaplin, the words by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons

Smile, though your heart is aching
Smile, even though it’s breaking
When there are clouds in the sky
You’ll get by…
If you smile

With your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just…

Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That’s the time you must keep on trying

Smile, what’s the use of crying
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just…Smile

Smile as though you are happy and as you do you will be able to overcome the gray clouds and the unhappiness. It is called intentionality. You intentionally smile when you don’t feel like it and in time you enjoy a change in attitude, and you will smile. Try it, it really works.

Thoughts from here and There…Lord, Prop Us up

Every time Mike Atkinson is asked to pray, he thinks of the old deacon who always prayed, ‘Lord, prop us up on our leanin’ side.’

“After hearing him pray that prayer many times, someone asked him why he prayed that prayer so fervently.

“He answered, ‘Well sir, you see, it’s like this…I got an old barn out back. It’s been there a long time. It’s withstood a lot of weather. It’s gone through a lot of storms, and it’s stood for many years. It’s still standing, but one day I noticed it was leaning to one side a bit. So I went and got some pine poles and propped it up on its leaning side so it wouldn’t fall.

“‘Then I got to thinking ’bout that and how much I was like that old barn. I been around a long time, I’ve withstood a lot of life’s storms, I’ve withstood a lot of bad weather in life, I’ve withstood a lot of hard times, and I’m still standing, too. But I find myself leaning to one side from time to time, so I like to ask the Lord to prop us up on our leanin’ side, ’cause I figure a lot of us get to leaning, at times.’”

If you have to lean try, as the song says, “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.”

Leaning On the Everlasting Arms is  Song by Iris DeMent

What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Refrain:
Leaning, leaning,
Safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Refrain

What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms?
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms

Refrain

Songwriters: Elisha A. Hoffman, Cyril A. Mclellan, A Showalter.

It helps to remember that one of the great props is thanksgiving. To help you not to lean to much to one side or the other express your gratitude to God for all his blessings, and to your family and friends for all the times that they have been a help and encouragement to you.

Thoughts from here and There…How to Be Content

One of my favorite stories is told by J. Ellsworth Kalas in The Ten Commandments From the Back Side that I discovered in Homiletics Magazine. It goes like this:

Tauler of Strasbourg is remembered as a great 14th century saint and mystic. One day he learned a lesson from an anonymous beggar.

“God give you a good day, my friend,” Tauler said as he met the beggar.

“I thank God I never had a bad day,” the beggar quickly answered.

Tauler was silent for a moment, then said, “God give you a happy life, my friend.”

And the beggar answered, “I thank God I am never unhappy.”

Now Tauler was nonplused. “Never unhappy,” he said. “What do you mean?”

Well, the beggar replied, “When it is fine, I thank God; when it rains, I thank God; when I have plenty, I thank God; when I am hungry, I thank God; and since God’s will is my will, and whatever pleases him pleases me, why should I say that I am unhappy when I am not?”

Tauler was now in awe of his new friend. “Who are you?” he asked.

“I am a king,” said the beggar.

“A king!” said Tauler, half ready to believe it. “Where is your kingdom?”

The man in rags spoke calmly, strongly, “In my heart,” he whispered. “In my heart.”

I must confess that I have not yet achieved the heights of gratitude expressed by the “beggar.” There are days, and we all have them, when the grayness of life hides the Sun of life. No matter! I press on! The gray dissipates and the sun shines. More often than not, this happens when I begin to find the many ways though which I can express a sense of contentment.

I hope that you find this story hope-filling and uplifting.