Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada, a day where we as nation give thanks for our family and friends, for our provision and for our freedom. Many Canadians mistakingly believe our Thanksgiving to be a mere copy of the American Thanksgiving. In fact, Canada can trace its first thanksgiving ceremony to Martin Frobisher, an Arctic explorer in 1579 who gave thanks after a successful expedition For generations, a day of thanksgiving has been regularly celebrated across Canada. It wasn't until 1931 that politicians finally agreed there should be a permanent annual day for our national holiday but the political wheels turn slow. In 1957, parliament declared, "A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed ... to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October." In the year 2010, we now share many of the same traditions as our neighbours to the south - turkey dinner, football and family gatherings. I believe it only appropriate that Canadians have celebrated Thanksgiving longer than Americans. After all, we are internationally known to be one of the most polite nations on earth. Although foreign comedians like to poke fun at our national pastime of politeness, I always sense an underlying admiration for this Canadian quirk. Giving thanks is a large aspect of our national politeness. It is ingrained in every Canadian child from toddlerhood to say 'please and thank you.' We are unapologetically apologetic about everything and it is not uncommon to overhear a fellow Canadian mutter an apology when someone bumps into them. Our 'thank you's carry past our family dinner tables and gift receiving into our everyday lives. We thank our waitresses, our bank tellers, the cashiers at the grocery store and the guy who changes our oil. We even thank the dentists who pull our teeth and the nurses who give us our flu shots. Recently, a friend protested that if we say thank you all the time that it will no longer be seen as a reward for good service and the words will fail to carry any weight. I must apologize however, as I wholeheartedly disagree with his statement. While I believe an extra word or act of thanks is appropriate when we have received extraordinary service, act of kindness or blessing, I don't believe that one should give thanks out of the motivation of receiving something even better down the road. Primarily, giving thanks keeps our hearts soft and tender and receptive. Giving thanks serves as a reminder that without the help of others and without the blessings of God, we would find ourselves sorely lacking. While living a thankful lifestyle has definite documented psychological benefits for those who purposefully chose to live this lifestyle, giving thanks should spring from an altruistic heart. Until Next Week, © 2010 Katherine Walden HEWS FLASH I Lift My Eyes has partnered with "Christianbook.com" to provide you with deep discounts of books, gifts, church supplies, music DVDs, pastoral helps, Sunday School programs. As of September 2010, 1,000's of Christian ebooks are now available for download on ebook reader, kindle and computer. http://psalm121.ca/books/books.html Your purchases help offset some of the online costs of this ministry. You may also make a donation through paypal by sending funds to our paypal account ps121ilme@... ------------- If you would prefer to receive the quotes below (without the newsletter portion above) on a daily basis rather than in a weekly summary, please go to http://dailychristianquote.com/subscribe.html and join the daily quote mailing list. ------------- DCQ Archive October 5 - 11, 2010 October 5, 2010 Christ never was in a hurry. There was no rushing forward, no anticipating, no fretting over what might be. Each day's duties were done as each day brought them, and the rest was left with God. Mary Slessor http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/biorpslessor.html Biography Resources ----------- October 6, 2010 The Law tells me how crooked I am; Grace comes along and straightens me out. Dwight L Moody http://www.moodyministries.net/crp_MainPage.aspx?id=64 Brief Biography ----------- October 7, 2010 Distinguish between the fact of God's presence, and the emotion of the fact. It is a happy thing when the soul seems desolate and deserted, if our faith can say, "I see Thee not. I feel Thee not, but Thou art certainly and graciously here, where I am as I am." Say it again and again: "thou art here: though the bush does not seem to burn with fire, it does burn. I will take the shoes from off my feet, for the place on which I stand is holy ground. Author Unknown ----------- October 8, 2010 To love someone means to see him as God intended him. Fyodor Dostoyevsky ----------- October 9, 2010 I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, "What can get through from such snares?" Then I heard a voice saying to me, "Humility." Anthony ----------- October 10, 2010 Jesus embodies the rule of God in which no one is beyond God's forgiveness no matter who they are or what they have done. Endowed with the presence and power of God through by John in the Jordan, Jesus comes proclaiming that the rule of God supplants all others now. When the scribes and the Pharisees chide him for eating with the traitorous Jewish tax collectors, Jesus responds: 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.' The answer to my parishioner's burning question [about divine forgiveness] was, of course: No, you cannot be too bad to be forgiven. You can only be too good. [For example: Too self-righteous to be humble, compassionate, or receptive to God's spirit.] Lewis B. Smedes ----------- October 11, 2010 But how shall we rest in God? By giving ourselves wholly to Him. If you give yourself by halves, you cannot find full rest - there will ever be a lurking disquiet in that half which is withheld...All peace and happiness in this world depend upon unreserved self-oblation to God. If this be hearty and entire, the result will be an unfailing, ever-increasing happiness, which nothing can disturb. There is no real happiness in this life save that which is the result of a peaceful heart. Jean Nicolas (J N) Grou ----------- Important addresses: http://psalm121.ca/home.html I Lift My Eyes Web Ministries Site Index - please take note of this address To change your address for receiving this list, please unsubcribe from your old address and subscribe with your new address © 2010 All articles written by Katherine Walden are copyrighted and as such, please do not send them on to others without including all the contact information that is included in every newsletter you receive from this ministry. Feel free to pass on the "Daily Christian Quotes" themselves, no permission is needed to do so.