26 Days to Christmas, Monday, Nov 29, 2021

“Thankful for Monday”

Cheers to the fourth-best Monday in the whole year!  That’s right!  After today, there are only three more Mondays before Christmas, with each one better than the previous one.  Oh, don’t roll your eyes yet.  Today is not a participation award or consolation prize.  Today, we have a real reason to be excited: Christmas IS coming this year and there’s still plenty of time to enjoy the carols, hang the decorations, and plan the get-togethers.  Sure, last year, the Holiday Season was kinda’ a party-pooper, but this year is different because we’ve seen first-hand that nothing can stop Christmas!

Of course, the author of this little article is supposed to be overly optimistic.  Given the challenges we’ve faced during these last couple of years, though, I think all of us have reason to celebrate.   If you’re not able to come up with your own reasons to be Hopeful, then maybe your beating heart, place of shelter, and heartburn from too much turkey will stir some answers.  If not, take a look outside and describe to yourself what you see.  The eyes you are using (even if they don’t work quite as well as previously), your ears that are annoyed by obnoxious neighbors (even after you turn down your hearing aid), and the shivers we feel from the weather outside are evidence of reasons to holler, “YeeHaw!”

Most of us probably already realize that, at heart, we’re all just being whiney when something like a Monday arrives.  Terrible things, like work, school, and a renewed set of weekly responsibilities bring us down (Why is that?).  We spend our time focusing on what we can’t do, what we used to be able to do, and why the world is so imperfect, all while sitting on our throne of self-pity.

No, this isn’t a sermon about tough love (this author disapproves of tough love).  Rather, this is a “Wake up and get another cup of coffee before you stick your head in the toilet” sermon that all of us should consider from time to time.  

We are blessed.  We do have it good.  We’re reading a blog on our phones and tablets, for gosh-sakes.  This is not such a terrible place to be today.  It’s not such a terrible world.

Today is the first Monday of Advent, the fourth-best Monday of the year, and it can be the beginning of something special this Christmas.  Find some time to say a prayer of thanks today.  If you’re feeling really bold, try reading a scripture passage (like the one below). You might be surprised how much God will do, especially when we are thankful for another Monday. 

“What a beautiful thing, GOD, to give thanks, to sing an anthem to you, the High God!  To announce your love each daybreak, sing your faithful presence all through the night, Accompanied by dulcimer and harp, the full-bodied music of strings.  You made me so happy, GOD.  I saw your work and I shouted for joy!  How magnificent your work, GOD!  How profound your thoughts!”  (Psalm 92:1-5, The Message).