Humble and Thankful

There are a thousand blessings in humility--

for our Lord bestows his grace upon the humble.   

Humble people are mild and peaceful, 

merciful and compassionate; 

they are quiet, cheerful, obedient, watchful, 

fervent in spirit and incapable of strife; 

they always take the lowest place, 

 and very far from preferring themselves 
before any one.

Fenelon, Spiritual Progress

I love the way Fenelon describes 
the character of the humble:

mild, compassionate, quiet, cheerful, obedient--

far from preferring self over others.

God gives grace to this kind of person.

Only a humble person can be a thankful person.

If one is the opposite type person--

loud, dreary, rebellious, careless, passive,

proud, self-focused --

that one can't be thankful.

A humble man or woman can easily agree 

with Paul's admonition in Colossians:

"Never forget to be thankful for what 
God has done for you."

Lord, I desire to have a pure heart,

a broken and contrite spirit which blesses You.

I want to love You and love others

and choose to humble myself before You.
That is where it must begin.

May I never forget to be thankful.