Make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord - Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, 2025

Image of an open notebook with handwriting in it that reads "I am grateful for:" with pumpkin and autumn leaves on wooden table.

Three Thoughts from Me

  • Are you feeling the swift current of holiday madness? It’s rushing earlier and faster than ever. Hallmark Christmas movies began in October. Christmas wreaths and lights were in the same aisles as Halloween ghouls and witches. Social media promises, “if you buy this, your holiday will be perfect.” If we’re not careful, we believe the flimflam and flit away our precious resources, only to realize we’ve been seduced by commercialism and consumerism, again.

  • The antidote to this holiday craziness is gratitude. It’s simple, free, and only takes a few minutes. It could be just the source of peace you’re looking for to help you savor what’s important during the holidays and the year to come. It’s a wonderful gift to give yourself and others because the gift of gratitude is a timeless, priceless contributor to our well-being. Science shows looking for what’s good in our life improves our health and mental health, while experience proves it’s the perfect invitation for the Spirit to enter a heartfelt prayer. 

  • The best practice of gratitude is the one you will do. List three good things that happened during the day in a journal before bed or with your bed partner. At the dinner table, share highs and lows. Have a gratitude jar where everyone jots a note and then reads the notes as part of a celebration. Write a letter to someone with details and examples of why you’re grateful for them. Verbally thank at least one person a day. 

Two Thoughts from Others

  • “It is a miracle if you can find true friends, and it is a miracle if you have enough food to eat, and it is a miracle if you get to spend your days and evenings doing whatever it is you like to do, and the holiday season – like all other seasons – is a good time not only to tell stories of miracles, but to think about the miracles in your own life, and to be grateful for them.” -Lemony Snicket, The Lump of Coal 

  • “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend."  -Melody Beattie

One Challenge for You

  • Find your way of practicing gratitude this week. 

Doctrine & Covenants 2025Terri Flintthese good thingsComment