1 O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever! … 24 This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
-Psalm 118:1, 24, NRSV
“Good morning,” the Tony-award winning playwright and actor writes, day after day, via Twitter. In recent years, Lin-Manuel Miranda (of no less than Hamilton fame) has become known not only for his accolades on stage and screen, but also for his encouraging “good morning, good night” tweets… one tweet offered in the morning, and another corresponding tweet offered at night. They’re now available in a treasure of a book: G’morning, G’night!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You.
My husband often pages through that book, looking for encouraging words to share with his students during this challenging, isolating, wearying season. One morning, while sipping my morning coffee, I picked up his book and began paging through it myself. I stopped on the page that featured this “morning” message:
Good morning.
Lead with gratitude.
The air in your lungs, the sky above you.
Proceed from there.
And then, on the facing page, the corresponding “night” tweet:
Good night.
Curl up with gratitude.
For the ground beneath you,
your beating heart.
Proceed from there.
Gratitude. The playwright and actor reminds us (and many of Twitter’s 300 million users) to start and end the day with gratitude. Gratitude for oft-overlooked blessings. Sky above. Earth beneath. Lungs that breathe. Hearts that beat.
The psalmist, like the playwright, reminds us: start the day with gratitude. “Give thanks to the LORD,” the psalm begins (Psalm 118:1, NRSV). “This is the day that the LORD has made,” it continues (Psalm 118:24, NRSV).
This is the day that the Lord has made.
If you’re reading this in the morning: Remember, my friend, that God has gifted you with the day that is before you. Begin your day with gratitude for all the blessings: sky above, earth beneath, lungs that breathe, a heart that beats… and every other overlooked blessing, too.
If you’re reading this at night: Remember, my friend, that God has gifted you with this day now past. End your day with gratitude for all the blessings: sky above, earth beneath, lungs that breathe, a heart that beats… and every other overlooked blessing, too.
And then, tomorrow… repeat.
Give thanks to God… because, as we know:
Our God is bigger than coronavirus.
Our vision is bigger than coronavirus, too.
We are people blessing people.
We are Wesley Church.
Blessings,
Pastor Candy
Want to know more?
- Learn about our church and its ministries: https://wesleychurch.com/
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- View our recent messages: https://wesleychurch.com/sermon-message-on-video/
- View previous devotionals: https://wesleychurch.com/pastor-candys-devotionals-2/
