Column: Something About Nothing

Many years ago I was a Brite Music representative. Brite Music was music for children that taught safety, good values and wisdom. One of the books and CDs told a story about having a “Gratitude Attitude.”

In “Gratitude Attitude” an ungrateful Mr. Rabbit transformed into a cheerful rabbit after the forest animals rescued him from being trapped in the snow.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us to give thanks in all circumstances. During World War II Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie ended up in Ravensbruck which was a concentration camp. At first it seemed impossible to Corrie to give thanks for anything in that camp but her sister Betsie insisted that they remember to give thanks in all circumstances and they did.

Corrie and Betsie and the women in their room thanked God for the fleas. It seemed at times they were almost eaten alive by the fleas. Corrie and Betsie’s and the other women’s life circumstances didn’t change but their attitude did. These women worried the guards would inspect their room and find their Bible. The guards never inspected their room. Later they found that the reason their room was never inspected was because of the out-of-control flea infestation.

A gratitude attitude is easy and catchy to say. But a gratitude attitude is not always easy to have. This is a week where we take the time to be thankful for all we have.

The first Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to God for helping the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony survive the first brutal winter in New England. Thanksgiving has been an annual tradition in the United States since 1863. I can’t imagine that the settlers were giddy with a “gratitude attitude” all the time. Supplies were short and they battled enemies. They had a tough life, yet they took the time on Thanksgiving to see through all of their hard ship, find their blessings and be thankful.

There have been times over the past month as I listened to the news that I have to admit I have wondered what there is to be thankful for. I wanted to scream when I heard of the murders of the two convenience store clerks in Iowa. I wanted to shout the question, “What happens in a teenager’s life that turns that teenager into a cold-blooded killer?” I thought of the families of both the women who lost their lives and the families of the teenager and could not imagine the sorrow they are going through.

I hear the pleas for donations for the homeless and hungry in the state of Minnesota and the numbers seem impossible to believe. What is even more impossible to believe is that it is happening right here in our backyards.

I listen to the report of the price of fuel going up and the price of food going up. I listen to the doom and gloom of the job market. And I wonder how the people that are experiencing these problems can have a gratitude attitude.

It would be very easy for me to tell everyone they should have a gratitude attitude, but since I don’t walk in everyone’s shoes I can’t do that because I do not know how I would react if I were in any one of those circumstances. It is hard enough to have a gratitude attitude just knowing these things are happening and that they exist in our world today.

Thanksgiving is usually a time for families to get together to give thanks, celebrate a meal and sit down to an afternoon of football. But for many, families are far away and the holiday becomes a lonely time.

Corrie Ten Boom found gratitude in a concentration camp flea-infested room. The rabbit in “Gratitude Attitude” found the gratitude attitude after being helped out of a dire situation. If you are a person like Corrie and can find the tiniest bit of the gratitude attitude in your life perhaps you can do what the forest animals did for the rabbit. You can reach out like the forest animals, like Betsie ten Boom and help someone and in that moment of giving, maybe someone else who had no hope, will be able to capture a moment or a lifetime of gratitude attitude living.

These words from the song “Pass It On” by Kurt Kaiser should inspire all of us.

“It only takes a spark to get a fire going, and soon all those around can warm up in its glowing.”

I wish for you to feel that spark and a warm glow this Thanksgiving.

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send e-mail to her at thecolumn@bevcomm.net. Her blog is paringdown.wordpress.com. Listen to KBEW AM radio 1:30 p.m. Sundays for “Something About Nothing.”