Rick and I share a love of critical thinking. We like to evaluate ideas, critique books and movies, and consider the “better way” in various situations. Some of our favorite dates have been sitting on the back patio on a warm summer evening after the kids are in bed, talking and contemplating an article or a good book or a comment from TV. I think that, in many ways, it comes from a love for truth and desire to “excel still more.” Those are good traits, right?

However, like most things in this stained world, it comes with its dark side. It is very easy for me to shift into grumbling and complaining. By its very nature, it is a quality that notices shortcomings and fallacies. And, if I’m not vigilant, I become negative. Critical thinking can quickly turn into a critical spirit, leaving very little room for grace, mercy, and gratitude. Last time I checked, a complaining spirit has never faired well with my Savior – the One who embodies both grace and truth.

So, my heart lept yesterday when I was on a favorite blog and saw her challenge to join in a Gratitude Community. Basically, Ann is encouraging her readers to join her in making a list of one thousand things for which we are thankful! Ten or so a week would take me two years. Two years of weekly moments to pause in gratitude. What a great discipline.

So, today I’m creating a new tag…armed with this wise perspective from Johannes A. Gaertner, “To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.”

Let me live gratitude. Poured out in offering to the Giver of all good things.

1. The blossoms on the pear trees in our backyard. Symbols of hope and reminders that the changing seasons are a good rhythm.
2. My pink “life is good” cap that reminds me of Rick’s support and encouragement in my newish endeavor to become a runner.
3. Ginger-Peach tea at Panera with my sweet friend Molly. Before we knew it two hours had passed.
4. Homemade whipped cream and Maddie’s delight when I make it for her strawberries.
5. Caleb’s empathetic tears when Maddie was sad last night. He is my tender warrior in the making.

Oh, and, if you’re curious for the original source of my inspiration for the Gratitude Community, here’s the link to Ann’s blog: (www.aholyexperience.com/2003/06/gratitude-community.html).

It occurs to me that today is Earth Day. I’ll admit that I’m a bit of a “greenie” (as my friend Anne has coined it). While admittedly inconsistent in my concern for this amazing world, I do think we have abused a precious gift. We are far too careless with the beauty that surrounds us. Because I know I am inconsistent, I continue to wade through the murky waters of my part in the mess we have made and consider how I might make changes to be more responsible.

But, I must also admit that I am far less concerned with “Who’s Your Momma?” and far more concerned with the One who IS my Pappa. How silly we are to celebrate any aspect of the creation without turning our attention to the Creator. All that exists is simply a reflection of the creativity and passion of my God and my King. He dreamed this up out of the deep riches of His own being and spoke it into existence – out of nothing. All day today in my liberal, little college town of Kent, people will talk about the earth and, yet, they will completely miss the One who made her.

As I was reflecting on this reality, I turned to the end of the book of Job, where God responds to some of Job’s questions. It moved me anew to worship the Lord for His majesty and creativity and glory in creating. Sometimes, the poetic imagery the Bible is simply amazing. The text says it much better than I ever could, so I’ll just record portions of it here for your pondering as well. For the whole text, check out Job, chapters 38 thru 41.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said…

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, Who set its measurements, since you know? Or who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

“Or who enclosed the sea with doors, When, bursting forth it went out from the womb; When I made a cloud its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling band, And I placed boundaries on it, And I set a bolt and doors, And said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop’?

“Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place,  That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it…

“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, Which I have reserved for the time of distress, For the day of war and battle? Where is the way that the light is divided, Or the east wind scattered on the earth?

“Who has cleft a channel for the flood, Or a way for the thunderbolt, To bring rain on a land without people, On a desert without a man in it, To satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?

“Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew? From whose womb has come the ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth? Water becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.

“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth?”

The text goes on for several more pages but, alas, my post cannot! After reading it yet again, I am even more convinced that the earth becomes far more meaningful in light of the One who made it. Hmmm. Maybe instead of Earth Day, we should be celebrating Earth-Maker Day.