THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
Giving Thanks
-- 2007
I have a delightful hour once
each month on
the third Thursday afternoon.
I refer to the
Learning-in-Retirement (its
acronym is LIR) class that I, along with about twenty-five other senior
citizens, pursue. Sponsored by
The premise behind the LIR
program is that
we are never too old to learn! That thought within itself gives pause
for
gratitude. Through the class, I have met some delightful new friends.
Mary
Purcell, our current teacher, is one of them. Snatched from the hands
of death
from a brain disorder, vivacious Mary is now healthy and productively
leading
our group. If she has to be absent on a class day Thursday, she asks me
or
another lady in the class to substitute for her.
We have written a book which we
have
entitled Milledgeville Tapestry.
It will contain short stories, memoirs, essays and poems, a hodge-podge
of
literary graffiti which twenty-five or more "old" people have written
for the LIR Creative Writing Class.
We had another title selected: Sweetwater Tapestry, going back
to the original settlement name of this fair city, for the name
Sweetwater came
from the Sweet Spring within the GC&SU Campus where the town's
early water
supply was located. But a corporation far away from our placid
Milledgeville
protested, threatening to sue because of the use of "their" name,
Sweetwater. Hie on them! Sweetwater town here was founded way back in
the late
1700's. But you know how it is with "politically correct" terms. Our
teacher Mary and we felt it would be easier, all around, to change our
title to
Milledgeville Tapestry. After all, this city was the strategic capitol
of
When noted Macon Telegraph
columnist, Ed
Grisamore, instructed us for a month back in February, 2007, one of his
former
students, a spry lady in her nineties, labeled an earlier session of
the
month-long writing Memoirs class with the heart-felt plea: "Don't die
with
a song still in your heart!" And that's what we want to try to do: To
get
the songs of our lives on paper before the Grim Reaper comes to say,
"No
more, no more!"
Now how does this long
introduction about
the writing class and its purposes have anything to do with "Giving
Thanks, 2007"- the
title for this column and the thought in our minds as we face "Turkey
Day" this week?
In a class, have you heard about
an
assignment? Even worse, home work? You guessed it. Mary Purcell told us
to
write about Thanksgiving (the Day) and/or Giving Thanks (the act of
praise and
thanksgiving). What are you most thankful for in 2007? Have you ever
tried to make
a list of "the most" anything? It isn't that easy to do. One thing
and another keep vying for top billing. My list is not necessarily
arranged
from the most to the least- but all, to keep the exercise somewhat
simple and
on task, follows the acrostic pattern of listing. The letters of
"Giving
Thanks" are the glue that holds the list together:
G- "God is our refuge and strength,
a very
present help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1) "Great is the Lord, and
greatly to be praised." (Psalm 48:1).
I- "In all thy ways acknowledge Him,
and He
shall direct thy paths."(Proverbs 3:6). Be grateful for insight to know
that you need someone to lead you in right paths.
V- "Viva"- Latin for "long live"
or for life itself. "For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that
appeareth
for a little time, and then vanisheth away." (James 4:14). In August,
2007, I learned as never before how valuable is life, and how it is
indeed like
a vapor that can vanish away in a moment. Be grateful for life and
breath, for
a heart that works, and for a second chance.
I- Instruction, teaching- be
grateful for the ability to learn
something new every day. "Hear, ye children, the instruction of a
father,
and attend to know understanding." (Proverbs 4:1). "Hear instruction
and be wise, and refuse it not." (Proverbs 8:33).
N- Needs supplied: "Give us this
day our daily bread."
(Matthew 6:11) "I have been young, and now am old: yet I have not seen
the
righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." (Psalm 37:25)
G- Government that is stable and
allows freedom under law:
"Let every one be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power
but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God." (Romans 13:1.
T- Today. "This is the day which
the Lord hath made; we will
rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24.) "One day is with the Lord
as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (II Peter 3:8-b).
H- Home and all the people who
inhabit home. "Home is the
place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in."
(Robert
Frost). Home is such a place of respite and rest that Jesus promised us
a house
in Heaven with the Father: "And I go to prepare a place for you...I
will
come again, and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may
be
also." (John 14:2 and 3).
A- Access to blessings: "Ask and it
shall be given you, seek
and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. For every one
that
asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh
it
shall be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8).
N- Nature and all its beauty,
riches for us to enjoy and
conserve: "For he hath made everything beautiful in His time."
(Ecclesiastes 3:11).
K- Kindnesses shown and kindnesses
given: "The Lord hath
appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an
everlasting love:
therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee." (Jeremiah 31:3).
S- Sacrifice by the Savior for our
salvation. "Jesus Christ,
the same yesterday, and today, and forever. By him, therefore let us
offer the
sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips
giving
thanks to his name." (Hebrews 13:8, 15).
Have a wonderful time with your
"Giving Thanks" list for 2007.
c2007 by
Ethelene Dyer
Jones; published Nov. 22, 2007 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville,
GA.
Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
[Ethelene Dyer
Jones is a retired educator,
freelance writer, poet, and historian. She may be reached at
e-mail edj0513@windstream.net;
phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA
31061-2411.]
Updated July 16, 2018
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