You dont have to be obsessive

In recent years we've heard a lot about the toll stress takes on our minds and bodies, through its deadly relationship to heart disease, cancers and all kinds of emotional miseries. But now we're learning that one big key to stress reduction is feeling gratitude. It seems so simple. According to stress researcher Hans Seyle, gratitude has a huge effect on our peace of mind, our feelings of security or insecurity, of fulfillment or frustration, in short the extent to which we can make a success of life. Wow. All of that. I think God must have worked it out. If we count our blessings, feel grateful for each and every one, and tell God about it -- God who already knows but offers us the benefits of telling -- our pulse rates slow, our blood pressures drop, our stress drains away, our anger or upset fizzles, and that opens us up to those wonderful feelings of joy, peace and contentment. Best of all, we come closer to God. How perfect for Thanksgiving Day. How perfect for every day. When I look at you, I'll thank God for you. When you look at me, please do likewise -- even if I am occasionally a small pain. How simple. How healing. God bless and Happy Thanksgiving. Spiritual Security Several years ago in another state, a security salesman phoned. He plunged directly into his spiel, explaining that nowadays I'm right to be frightened, it's a dangerous world, but if I would just purchase one of his home security systems, my worry would be over. I tried to be polite. No thanks, I'm not in the market for a security system. Just let me show you. These are great systems. You can't be too careful. Haven't you heard about the recent burglaries in your neighborhood? I had, but sometimes I get ornery. I attribute this to the residual lawyer in me. I'm a pastor, so I'm in a different security business, I said. My real security comes from God. I heard a deep breath, then click. He didn't even say goodbye. I'd become a bad prospect. But redirected here ornery or not, I was telling him the truth. There comes a time in a growing faith life that old fears and insecurities start shifting. The oldest, really hard-core childhood ones begin revealing themselves, and once they're known, they're usually manageable or can be worked with. Others simply disappear. I don't deny that the world can be a scary place. Even small towns in Montana aren't always safe. I remember years ago when I emerged from my downtown law office after midnight to see blood stains on the Last Chance Gulch sidewalk.