fail more often in gratitude than in any other of the Christian graces. Is not this an iniquity? Consider, then, The Inclusiveness By inclusiveness we mean giving thanks in all things and under all circumstances. Paul expresses it: “ In every thing give thanks” (1 Thess. 5:18), “ Giving thanks always for all things” (Eph. 5:20). Of course we are to give thanks. “ Continue in prayer . . . with thanksgiving” (Col. 4 : 2 ). “ I appointed two great companies that gave thanks” (Neh. 12:31). “ Daniel gave thanks before his God” (Dan. 6:10). “ Offer unto God thanks” (Psa. 50:14). Jonah said: “ I will sacrifice to thee with the voice of thanksgiving ’ (Jonah 2:9). “ The angels . . . worshipped God, saying . . . thanksgiving . . . be uhto our God for ever and ever (Rev. 7:11, 12). Paul said: “ I thank God.” Jesus “ gave thanks.” Jeremy Taylor said: “ Every furrow in the Psalms is sown with the seeds of thanksgiving.” Thankfulness as a duty and as a delight is prominent in the Bible. It should have a big place in our lives, for thankfulness is the declarative mood of gratitude, a bright fire in the world’s frigid zone, a great incentive to faith, a glorifier of God, a subduer of the lower nature. “ It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord” (Psa. 92:1). But what about giv ing thanks in everything? When the road is rough, when circumstances are trying, when the night is dark, when situations are disagreeable, when the cup of woe is bitter, when the black wings of disease flutter over the cradle, when the wolf of want howls at the door, when from our neighbors we receive unkind treatment, when friends despise and forsake—well, we are to give thanks. Yes, that is the inspired imperative— to give thanks in all things that enter into the experiences of all believers. Does “in everything” include the occasions on which hap py faces bend above the cradle, and when the crepe is on the front porch and the coffin in the parlor? Does it include the gall with the honey, the martyr’s fire with its suffering as well as the hearthstone fire with its com fort, the hailstorm that ruins the fruitful field as well as the rain that drives away the drouth, tribulations sev ere as well as triumphs sweet, good-byes that break our hearts as well as greetings that cheer our hearts, voyages when tempests chum the sea as well as voyages when the seas are still? Does it include the desert place as well as the garden, the sun-blistered desert road along with th grass-carpeted riverside? Yes! when we are bereaved of loved ones, when we find traitors among friends, when uncongenial circumstances crowd and conquer us, when sickness brings prostration, when dream houses collapse, when hopes wither, when orchards are barren, when we have only summer clothes for winter time, when only scraps are on our plates—yea, in everything we are to give thanks! We are to thank God in tribulation, distresses, persecutions, famines, nakedness, perils; we are to give thanks for all things. John Ruskin said: “ Among my chief calamities I had nothing to endure.” Remembering that, let us be found “ giving thanks always for all things,” sharing the confi dence of Paul that “ all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called accord ing to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Then shall we find that, even as ingratitude is evil, so, with Gray in his “ Ode for Music,” we shall joyously agree:
to be unscriptural is an offense to God. But think of-—- The Iniquity By iniquity I mean the evil of ingratitude—manifest or secret. The world’s greatest poet, Shakespeare, describes ingratitude as “ a marble-hearted fiend.” He thus express es himself: I hate ingratitude more in man Than lying, vainness, babbling, drunkenness, or any taint of vice, whose strong corruption Inhabits our frail blood. Milton brands ingratitude as besotted and base. And we will not think crookedly if we agree with him who wrote: He thafs ungrateful has no guilt but one; All other crimes may pass for virtues in him. Swift declares that he who calls a man ungrateful sums up all the evil of which one can be guilty. Thomason states that ingratitude is treason to mankind. Fuller writes: And Colton declares that brutes leave ingratitude to man. Again we hear another declare the iniquity of in gratitude in this question: Is it not as if this mouth should tear this hand for lifting food to it? Ingratitude will steal money from a blind man’s cup, GIVE THANKS by Robert G. Lee trample love underfoot, sneak into the graveyard under cover of darkness and rob the graves of patriots. It fits one for the infamous company of “ Knights of the Kloudy Kountenance.” It makes one talk and think as if all good men were dead, youth were hopelessly corrupt, and God a merciless tyrant. It rewards its benefactor with wounds. It is the serpent one takes to his bosom warming it back to life, which rewards its benefactor by lifting a heinous and hissing head and by striking its poisonous fangs into the heart. The indictment of the ungrateful soul was expressed by a wise man in words that blister: Trust the ungrateful soul with money—and he will steal it; with honor—and he will be tray it; with virtue—and he will violate it; with love — and, with hellish alchemy, he will transmute it into lust; with your good name—and he will besmirch it. It is a shame that thanksgiving is a rare virtue! Many Ingratitude is the abridgement of all baseness—a fault never found unattended with other viciousness.
Sweet is the breath of vernal shower, The bees’ collected treasures sweet, Sweet music’s melting fall; but sweeter yet The still, small voice of gratitude.
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NOVEMBER, 1961
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