"We offer with joy and thanksgiving what you have first given us: ourselves, our time and our possessions, signs of your gracious love..."

The stewardship people I meet are the most joyous and grateful people I know.  And while I am convinced that learning to give makes one more thankful, I think the opposite can also be true as well.

I use the canned prayers for the prayers of the people but I add a beginning to the thanksgiving prayers.  Because whenever we come before the Lord, the first thing we do is say thanks.  The more our posture is one of gratefulness, the more we understand Who it all came from.

We are best at saying thanks at mealtimes.  At thanksgiving dinner almost everyone says thanks.  And a lot of people say thanks at family meals together, especially dinner.  Many tell me they do it to teach their children.  But fewer people say thanks when they sit down to breakfast or lunch.  

I often think we ought to teach a prayer for buying something or receiving a pay check. In seminary, my Lutheran confessions professor used to say there ought to be a procession to the post office on April 15th.  A thanksgiving for all we have been given in this country and that we are able to give and support our country.  (Not the way most of us celebrate the 15th of April.  Maybe after Sept. 11 people are ready to do it.)

When I was in India, I saw that the people had so much less and yet I heard so many more expressions of thanksgiving and praise for the God who they knew was taking care of them.  I guess I expected them to say, "When I have as much as these Americans, then I will be thankful."  

Isn't that what we do? We say we'll be happy only  "When I have as much as.so and so," or "When I when I reach my financial goals," or "When I have finished putting the kids through college," or whenever. Only then I will feel thankful enough to truly give.

Lord,
Open our hearts to receive your love, open our ears to hear your call, open our eyes to see all thank you have given us, open our hands that we may give and receive more freely in the sharing of what is really yours.
Amen
 

Copyright (c) 2003, The Rev. Dana Reardon. Used by permission. Email her at mspastor@aol.com.

The Rev. Dana Reardon is pastor at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Warwick, RI.  A lifelong Lutheran, she came to ordained ministry after 21 years in nursing, mostly in pediatric intensive care.  She graduated from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 1998 and served 4 ½ years in Upstate New York before becoming a New Englander.  She is still trying to understand the accent.  While in the Upstate New York Synod she chaired the Stewardship Team.  That began her fascination with what makes stewards -- and more, what makes for generosity. She has three amazing daughters: Pastor Izzo says much of what she knows of life she learned from them.