Our word "thanks" is a variation of the word "thinks" To thank people,or God, is to think about what you owe them.

Thursday, 11/22/12

What does it mean to say, “Thanks”? We say it all the time. A waitress puts water on your table, and as she walks away, you say, “Thanks.” What good does that do?

Today we thank God for all the good things in our lives. So, what does our “Thanks” do for God?

If you look it up you’ll find the word is a variation on the word “Think.”

To thank someone, or to thank God is to think about what you owe them, about what they do for you. Saying, “Thanks” acknowledges all that; and to be sincere the word should be backed up by your thinking seriously and thankfully about God or whoever.

We should think about the bodies God gave us. In that regard I often think about Sister De Sales, a wonderful Daughter of Charity. I suppose she is still a substantial Polish woman. No centerfold. I visited her hospital room after she had a knee replacement. She was hunched over in a hospital gown, but she looked up, and she said, “I am sitting here thinking about our wonderful bodies.”

We should thank God for clouds. Early this morning they were gold rimmed purple stretches layered above the east. By eight o’clock they were the purest white against a pale blue sky, the combo they strive for with Dresden China.

Later in the morning I was visited by six friends who brought their culture and their kindness with them. It sets me thinking about God’s kindness in sending me people created in his image.