Being thankful for an average kind of day
This Thanksgiving I'm thanking God for the beauty of an average kind of day. I've come to see that normal is far from boring. It's an underrated blessing in our lives.
In the community where I live in suburban Seattle, the water supply recently was contaminated with E. coli. We were required to boil our tap water for a week. Such an unanticipated interruption to our normal routines helped me see normal through new eyes. So did a major wind storm a few weeks later that left our neighborhood without power for four days.
As I contemplate God's goodness this year, my list of things for which I am grateful is dominated by the little things that enrich my life. Little things like …
Drinking water from the faucet without having to boil it. Flipping on the wall switch and lighting up the bedroom without need of a flashlight. Turning up the thermostat and feeling warm without having to don a down jacket. Brewing a cup of French roast from our electric coffee maker instead of driving to the local Starbucks for a grande drip. Watching our hometown football team on TV instead of driving around town in my car listening to the game while charging my iPhone.
A couple years ago, while writing a book about Frank Capra's classic movie "It's a Wonderful Life," I was reminded of the beauty of everyday blessings. After George Bailey is granted "the greatest gift" of being able to see a world in which he was never born, he resumes his normal life. As he does, he discovers just how wonderful normal is. The little things of life that once irritated him have become sources of joy.
George's bleeding lip, the result of being punched in the mouth in a bar scuffle, becomes a cut for which he is thankful. The loose banister knob on the stairs that had been a source of frustration to George for years he now views with gratitude.
He is also elated to find his little girl's flower petals in his watch pocket. Although not a fragrant dozen roses, Zuzu's petals are a bouquet of blessings nonetheless.
George Bailey's temporary deprivation of "the little things" gave him the ability to see normal as the essence of a wonderful life.
Being thankful for normal days is rooted in the soil of contented hearts. A first century rabbi by the name of Paul invited his disciples to discover the joy that is rooted in contentment. He wrote, "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation …" (Philippians 4:12 NIV)
This Thanksgiving season I have discovered the same secret. Being grateful for normal days and being contented with the small things of life definitely is anything but normal. It's a learning process. And, ironically, it takes going without the things we take for granted to appreciate what really matters.
As you pass the turkey and all the trimmings, try chewing on that.
• Rev. Greg Asimakoupoulos is the faith and values contributor to The Mercer Island Reporter in suburban Seattle. For 2000-2005, he was a regular columnist of the Daily Herald.