SIMPLE GRATITUDE

The busy bee is the black spot in the middle of the pink cluster.

The window outside my writing corner has quite a boring view: a weathered fence and the attic air vent of my neighbor’s home. The exception is May, when tall, decades-old rhododendrons burst out in glorious color. Even though the windowpane I can hear bees busily flying from one blossom to another. When I sit in a funk, unable to turn keystrokes into uplifting or helpful words, I remember that praise is the best antidote for a negative outlook. So I thank the Lord for the brilliant colors of these blossoms. The happy buzz of the bees. The water to nourish these plants. The changing skyline at the top of the window. Electronics that link me (and my writing) to the world. People who’ve affirmed me.

In his book Healing for Damaged Emotions, pastor-counselor David Seamands gave several practical suggestions for dealing with depression. Over the past year in this blog I worked through the 48 psalms he commended for study during “down” times. He also advocated developing a mindset of praise and thanksgiving. Such was one way that a saint of a previous century, Salvation Army leader Samuel Brengle, dealt with the depression that came to him from time to time. “When he couldn’t feel God’s presence or really pray,” Seamands wrote, “he would thank God for the leaf on the tree of the beautiful wing of a bird” (p. 129). That’s the principle of 1 Thessalonians 5:18, which many cite for expressing gratitude. Seamands remarked that Paul didn’t write the Thessalonians to “feel thankful for everything” but to “in everything give thanks.”

In agreement with that, another popular sign says “Cherish life’s simple treasures.”

The other day my grandsons were here at what should have been the toddler’s naptime. He’s a little guy who can be fussy about where he sleeps, his preference of course being his own crib. While my husband kept the 4- and nearly 6-year-olds busy, I took the 19-month-old into the bedroom where I had set up a folding playpen next to my rocker. Snug under a warm fleece blanket, he’d settled down and closed his eyes. His breathing said “asleep!” so I tried to move him into the playpen. Disaster. Part of the problem was the “comfort” nursing he gets at naptime from his own mom. His granny wasn’t up to that! So I ended up rocking him asleep for nearly two hours. I thought of David’s tender picture in describing spiritual contentment:
I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself. I am like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child I am content.(Psalm 131:1b-2)

Our culture promotes the bigger-and-better, wild-and-crazy, off-the-top. Just watch television’s quiz or daytime prize shows to see what people will do for vacations and “stuff.” Or hang around a convenience store advertised as having sold winning lottery tickets in the past.

Simple treasures that prompt thanksgiving aren’t the extravagant man-made entertainments and baubles. They’re the ordinary yet extraordinary gifts of God all around us. Even as simple as a bee buzzing into a blossom.