by Reverend Sir Knight Donald Kerr
Thanksgiving is a time to think about ourselves and our country. It is a time to thank God for the blessings bestowed upon us. Sometimes a feeling creeps over us that everything is wrong and discouraging, and life is out of tune. Usually we hear the worst before we realize there is always the best that is hidden from our sight.
Once upon a time, a young bride moved with her army husband to California far from home and friends. Their small apartment was in a rundown neighborhood near to an Indian settlement. The heat was unbearable; the wind blew all the time; dust and sand were everywhere. The days were long and lonely. The neighboring Indians were none too friendly.
The bride wrote home to her mother saying she was coming home. In time a letter came from her mother. It said, "Two can look out from prison bars - one sees mud the other stars." The girl read the lines again and again and felt ashamed. She started on a new course and made friends with the Indians. She learned to weave and made pottery. She studied the desert and saw things she had never seen. Her spirit changed, and everything else changed. The heat was the same, the wind continued to blow, the distance from home was the same, and the Indians were as they always were. But everything was better and brighter because the girl adopted a new point of view.
Thanksgiving gives a chance to see ourselves from a higher ground - to remember the kind word, the cheery smile, the friendly handshake. Therefore, it is time to "Bless the Lord and forget not all His benefits." So, a happy Thanksgiving to one and all!
The Reverend Sir Knight Donald C. Kerr, a member of Beauseant Commandery No. 8, Baltimore, MD, is Pastor-emeritus of the Roland Park Presbyterian Church in Baltimore. He resides at 700 John Ringling Boulevard, Apt. E202, Sarasota, FL 34236-1586