Quick Takes Monday: Being Thankful

I missed Quick Takes Friday, but there’s always room for a Quick Takes Monday, seeing as I had half a post written. I thought today I’d do something different for the 7 Quick Takes blog hop, and take a moment in prayer to think about things for which I am thankful in the type of life I lead.

~1~

Temperature controlled showers. Yes, yes, I know how material that is. But temperature controlled showers – and I’m not talking about turning up the temperature all the time – are so good to have in the morning to wake one’s self up. Without being able to control the shower in the way I have done, I wouldn’t be able proceed with my day in the way I want.

So, for that, I am thankful for good showers, and I always will be.

~2~

The Internet – whether it be working or not. I am glad I came to age in a time after the internet became as popular as it is now. Sure, the internet is made for trolls and people hiding everywhere who want to corrupt the goodness of society, but it is also an amazing place for genuine people who, a 100 years ago, would not have had the opportunity to be as successful as they are now, thanks to job and career opportunities they happen upon thanks to the internet.

~3~

Companionship. From friends to family to acquaintances, everybody I meet influences the path I walk and the choices I make. Just a little bit. Just by joy and conversation and care. I am so so thankful for God bringing these people into my life.

~4~

Outerwear. Like, working gloves. Those to me are bliss when my fingers do not turn to blocks of ice. I have naturally cold hands – low circulation – which leaves me, even in a mild April day, tucked hands in pockets or under fleecy protection. I don’t mind – it’s a fate I have endured for many years, and I have my ways of dealing with it. Like gloves.

~5~

Discovery. Every day, even in the minutest of ways, we – as people and as scientists in this big, wide world of ours – are learning more and more about the world we are stewarding. We may never eradicate all human-killing diseases or we may never create the technology of our dreams or find every creature in every crevice of the planet, but what we do find, however small, helps to patch together an interpretation of life. To me, that is wonderful.

~6~

Contemplation. Another thing that I myself could not live without. The world would be a dull place if we could not think. For starters, there were not be this post. In extension of that, I am thankful for philosophy in terms of considering the world around me. So very often we get told not to take our gifts for granted; this is true, but the gift of being able to contemplate is not one so easily defined.

Even so, I pray that others will experience contemplation and knowing when to do the right thing.

~7~

Fiction. Namely, the act of being able to generate fictitious ideas. I often wonder what the world would be like without imagination and without fiction. Without the ability to weave a story to tell others. And, indeed, where would we be as readers? Reading is amazing and so often overlooked. But the fact that we somehow encode the orthographic squiggles on paper with a pre-taught corresponding phoneme is both highly unlikely and amazing.

Well, that’s the work of The Lord for you. Amen!

Have a peaceful and blessed week. 🙂