Pondering on the Word 'Thanks'

This is the week to give thanks to our Creator for the bounty we have received. Scott Dannemmiller, a former missionary with the Presbyterian Church and a religion contributor to The Huffington Post, urges us to stop and think about how we use the word Thanks in our prayers of gratitude to God.

"...Calling myself blessed because of material good fortune is just plain wrong. For starters, it can be offensive to the hundreds of millions of Christians in the world who live on less than $10 per day. You read that right. Hundreds of millions who receive a single-digit dollar "blessing" per day.

During our year in Guatemala, Gabby and I witnessed first-hand the damage done by the theology of prosperity, where faithful people scraping by to feed their families were simply told they must not be faithful enough. If they were, God would pull them out of their nightmare. Just try harder, and God will show favor.

The problem? Nowhere in scripture are we promised worldly ease in return for our pledge of faith. In fact, the most devout saints from the Bible usually died penniless, receiving a one-way ticket to prison or death by torture."

 Later,  Dannemmiller adds:

If we're looking for the definition of blessing, Jesus spells it out clearly (Matthew 5: 1-12).
I have a sneaking suspicion verses 12a 12b and 12c were omitted from the text. That's where the disciples responded by saying:

12a Waitest thou for one second, Lord. What about "blessed art thou comfortable," or 12b "blessed art thou which havest good jobs, a modest house in the suburbs, and a yearly vacation to the Florida Gulf Coast?"
12c And Jesus said unto them, "Apologies, my brothers, but those did not maketh the cut."

Food for thought.

Read the full piece entitled The One Thing Christians Should Stop Saying