It has been said that if the only prayer one says is "Thank you," that would be sufficient. That may or may not be true, but it would certainly be a good start. We surely all have people we are grateful to, but the origin of all good things is from the source, Almighty God. Even the bad things in life, though seemingly evil through and through, shape and mold us into who we are. A stick that bends to the Master Carpenter’s divine touch could very well become a throne for a king, while the unyielding one breaks and ends up in the scrap pile. In these modern times we all live like kings. Instant air-conditioning when it’s hot, heat when it’s cold, hot water, refrigerators, plenty of food, instant entertainment and communication, transportation that would amaze people from barely 100 years ago. In spite of all of this, we seem to take it all for granted and find something to gripe about.

Although we definitely need to be grateful for all these wonderful ple...