Thankfulness

“The worst moment in an atheist’s life is when he is filled with thankfulness but realizes he has no-one to thank!”
G. K. Chesterton

Incident in the life of wonderful old gospel-preacher, Vance Havner; known for his fervent love of Christ, his ability to preach the true Gospel, and, occasionally, his saltiness:
One Lord’s Day, after the service, Pastor Havnor shook hands with a parishioner and asked this fellow how he was. The parishioner said, “Oh, I’m pretty good, under the circumstances”. Pastor Havner asked, “What I want to know is, what is a Christian doing under the circumstances, anyway?”

Here’s another of his quotes I read tonight, based on Hebrews 11:
“Moses saw the invisible, chose the imperishable and did the impossible.”

Finally, the following gave me such comfort after my Dad’s death, three years ago. I was struggling with a sense of helplessness and anger at the suffering he'd experienced in the last six days of his life. I picked up one of Vance Havner's books and turned right to a passage where he spoke of his agony, as he sat by his wife's bedside, watching her pass into the presence of the Lord. He couldn't understand why she'd suffered so much and as he spoke of his anger and hurt at what she was having to pass through, He heard his wife whisper, “One minute in the presence of the Lord is worth a lifetime of suffering”.

The general theme of these passages is we have much to be thankful for; something I lose sight of on a continuing basis. The other day I came across a sort of love letter I’d written regarding my Dad, after he died. In it I speak of all that I discovered I had to be thankful for in the circumstances surrounding his demise. At some point, when I get up enough courage, I’ll share it here…