GIVE THANKS
We all are taught at an early age to say "please" and "thank you," and once we are old enough to pray, we are taught to extend these gracious words to God. Young children learn to thank God for their parents, their siblings, and for all of the other blessings bestowed on them. But, it can be difficult to explain to children, or adults for that matter, how and why we should be thankful for everything. In the First Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians we are told to "Rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18). Perhaps Paul's point here is that just as we can choose to pray or not to pray, and indeed even pray without ceasing by keeping an internal dialogue going with God, we can choose to rejoice and to give thanks at all times. Giving thanks is more about choosing to have a thankful attitude than it is about explicitly saying, "thank you" to God. And just as we can strive to main - tain a constant internal dialogue with God, so too can we remain ever thankful in our outlook and attitude. Of course, we must realize that being thankful is more about our subjective attitude than the objective external circumstances of our lives.