Tucked away in the Gospel of Luke in Chapter 17 is a small story describing ten lepers and their interaction with Jesus. We are not given much description of these ten lepers, they were calling to Jesus from a distance and asking for healing from the terrible pains of their leprosy. They cried, “Jesus, Master have mercy on us!”
Jesus replied, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” As the lepers did this they began to notice that they were being healed. One of the lepers so overcome with joy and gratitude came back praising Jesus and threw himself at Jesus’ feet. The next statement by Jesus hits hard…”Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?“
Where are the other nine? This question has been ringing loudly almost unceasingly these last few weeks as I reflect and ponder on this Season of Thanksgiving. How often have we just simply taken things for granted? Do we slow down enough to realize the gravity of everything we must be thankful for? How often are we the thankful leper or as we recall back are we more like the other nine?
We will know the answer to these questions by looking at how we live our day to day lives. Here are some additional questions to ponder as we consider our lives and some brief commentary for each question in context:
- Who in our life is deserving of our thankfulness that we have not expressed fully or at least in some time?
Often times the ones most deserving of our thankfulness are the ones who we have honestly just assumed will always show up…We know that those people are unconditional — either in their love or in their sense of responsibility or in their constancy of care and concern. Those unconditional individuals seem to always have an endless reserve from which to pour from; yet we cannot expect to draw from a well forever without some rain. Our nourishing words of thanks or actions that share our thanks will bring joy and recharging and it costs us nothing, but the necessity to be present and aware of all that others do without any intent of recognition or reward!
- Can we find thankfulness even in the midst of challenges and difficulties?
It is one thing to uncover all the thanks in the world in the midst of plenty! It is easy for swells of gratitude to become consuming when we are in seasons of great joy! Yet, are we capable in finding the strength of thankfulness even while enduring great challenge and tragedy? Recently, I experienced a deep hurt that rocked me…yet as I reflected more it was my Lord protecting me. Though it made no sense in that moment and it stung; I now know why it happened the way it had too and I can say fully that God knows what he is doing and thank goodness he will not let me walk the same mistakes twice!!
Let us take the time to truly reflect and grapple with these questions — yet, as the saying goes, “Action without Reflection is meaningless”; I would also argue that “Reflection without Renewed Action is equally meaningless”!
Thank you so much for reading and sharing this post! May you find many reasons for thankfulness this season and find ways to share it with others!
Perennial Educator 