Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1896-11-26
THE THANKSGIVING HABlT.
1t Should Be Cultivated by Thinking OF
Things for Which We Ought to he
Thankful.

1t Should Be Cultivated by Thinking OF
Things for Which We Ought to be
Thankful.
The Thanksgiving habit starves sell
fishness, cultivates humility ana in
spires cheerfulness, not only in our
selves, but in those around us. And
like burning incense the fragrance not
only spreads in circle, but it ascends
to Heaven-a understanding SAVIOR un-
to the Lord. Hard as it is for US to real.
ize, our hearty thanks are even more
pleasing to God than to men. We are
slow to learn what David found out
early in life-that praise has it's an
swer as well as prayer. When he want
ed blessing he held out his cup for it
and prayed; but when the first little
drop fell he began to thank God for it.,
and another drop fell and another, till
his cup ran over. On the threshold of
the Christian life our prayers are made
up almost wholly of petitions, but
when we approach the threshold of
Heaven they are made up almost
wholly of praise. ave- ~
hCJC ID d IOIlCu IA.fLt d
thankful spirit is natural growth pc
culiar to certain climates and condi-
tons of life, and that we have no more
to do with it's development than we
have with the growth of the beautiful
laurels which crown our mountains.
If there are seeds of thankfulness with
in us they will come up in their own
ALL
pious folk who remind us that thank
fulness to be thankfulness must be
spontaneous, and that any effort to cul-
tivate it lays us open to innumerable
temptations TO hypocrisy. And then
there are people who are afraid to give
expression to their gratitude for fear
they will express it all away, having in
mind those beautiful geraniums that
sometimes bloom themselves to death.
But the fact remains that heart plants
which grow of themselves are the
plants we do not want at all, and il
takes but small amount Of expert
menting to find out that nothing is
more susceptible to culture than graft
tude. All our prayers for a thankful
spirit will avail nothing If we neg
lect to give thanks, just as all our
prayers for q good crop will come to
naught if we neglect to hoe our corn.
God giveth tie increase, but Paul must
plant and Apollos must water.
The method of culture is simple.
Back of thankfulness is thinkfulress.
If we are to continue to be thankful! we
I, Il ~ Z
things we should be thankful for. A
Christian should count his mercies as
q miser counts his gold. 1t is not easy
at first; we think of two, three, four,
five mercies we are really thankful for,
and then we stop. And perhaps the
next time we can think of no more. 1t
is something new-we have been so
accustomed to counting our troubles.
But by and by the mind will get started
on the new line, and we shall count
a dozen, a score, fifty, a hundred,
until we can find no stopping place,
and we shall be lost in wonder.
love and praise. Especially if we be-
gin early. A man who finds some
thing to be thankful for before break
ltlSl, VIII lIiu W De VI
for through the day. We need to turn
the waking thoughts toward God: tie
thought of Him will remind us of what
we owe Him. And we should fix our
thoughts upon Him by main force if
necessary, and give thanks without
stopping to probe our hearts to find out
whether we are really as thankful as
we say we are. There is more con-
ceit than piety in the morbid fear
some people have of expressing more
than they feel.
Thanksgiving is the vital breath of
thankful spirit. 1t is silly to say: Il
am thankful if never choose to ex-
press it." 1t is not all of life to breathe,
and it is not all of thankfulness to give
thanks, but if we cease TO breathe we
shall cease to live. and if we cease to
express the gratitude we feel we shall
soon have no gratitude to express. n.
Y. Observer.