A Thankful Perspective Series

G. K. Chesterton has written a delightful account of a students encounter with his

professor at Oxford. The professor, or tutor as they called them, was a bright young man,

but he was a follower of the pessimistic views of Schopenhauer. He was disgusted with the

weary worthless lives around him, and with the trash they treasured, and which he had to

look at from his second floor apartment. Especially offensive was that unattractive stucco

house with a silly duck pond complete with ducks.

At the end of one of his frequent observations on the foolishness of people, the low

estate of most human minds, and the futility of life in general, he concluded that the only

intelligent course of action for a man of sense and sensibility would be to remove himself

from the scene permanently. This is where the student comes in. He felt the time had come

to test his professor's theory. He returned to the professor's quarters later waving a wicked

looking revolver. He declared that he had come to put his tutor out of his misery. The

professor was reduced at once to un-philosophical entreaties. As he begged for his life he

backed out of his window and perched on the flagpole hoping to attract the attention of

someone passing by.

The student standing at the window with the revolver called upon the pessimist to

recant. He made him give thanks for his miserable life, for the sky, the earth, and the trees.

He was also given the opportunity to bless his neighbor and express satisfaction with the

ducks on the pond. All of this he gladly did, and thereby showed that his theory on life was

not very attractive in practice.

There are many pouting pessimists who would change their tune on a flagpole with a

revolver in their back. This would not prove that they were truly thankful people, but it

would demonstrate that they were more grateful for life than they were willing to admit.

Facing death gives on a new perspective on life, and it makes it look even good to the

pessimist. Most pessimists and most un-believers do not need a revolver in their back to

admit they have much for which to be grateful. All it takes is the pressure of tradition and a

family get together on Thanksgiving to compel them to recognize their good fortune.

Almost all non-Christians will be thankful for their material blessings, and for the fact

that they are not freezing with the homeless, or starving with the hungry poor. Christians

cannot claim a monopoly on the attitude of gratitude. What distinguishes the Christians

thankfulness from the natural thankfulness of all people? The distinction consists basically

in the fact that the Christian has someone to thank. The essence of his thanksgiving is a

relationship to a person, and a supreme person who has a plan and purpose for his life. The

unbeliever's thanks is a sense of well being about his good luck, but there is no ultimate

meaning behind it, for he has no concept of an ultimate purpose. This means he loses the

essence of thanksgiving, which is gratitude to God for his personal concern and purpose for

us as individuals. This is a key to happiness, for only people with a purpose can be truly

happy on a permanent basis.

Paul tells us that the cause of much of the misery and darkness of the pagan world is due

to the fact that they were not thankful. This led to all kinds of perversions in religion and sex

in a futile effort to find happiness without God. Many are seeking to do the same thing

today, but they are failing as men always have. Man's only hope for happiness is in a

thankful relationship to God, and in a finding of His purpose through Christ. William Law

asked, "Who was the greatest saint in the world?" Then he answers, "It is not he who prays

most or fasts most; it is not he who gives most alms, or is most eminent for temperance,

chastity, or justice; but it is he who is always thankful to God, who receives everything as an

instance of God's goodness and has a heart always ready to praise God for it.

David was far from a perfect man. He was, in fact, notorious for his failures, and yet he

is called the man after God's own heart. It is hard to avoid the conclusion as we read the

Psalms that the redeeming factor in his life that lifted him so close to God was his grateful

heart. Praise flows unceasingly from his lips and heart. He competes with the angels of

heaven who praise God night and day. David had more than his share of trials, but he never