Learning to Count

By Cheryl Courtney Semick

"May God be gracious
to us and bless us
and make his face
shine upon us,
Psalms 67:1

n high school, I assured my algebra teacher that I would not need math in real life. He chuckled and passed me despite my failing test grades. I’m not sure if he passed me because I exasperated him or if he just hoped someone else would take on the monumental task of teaching me.

Although I’ve successfully hidden behind calculators most of my adult life, I’m finally beginning to realize that math is not my enemy. In fact, it was math that came to mind when I pondered what to write for Thanksgiving.

I was intent on waxing eloquent on the annual ceremony of giving “thanks,” when a chorus I was taught in Sunday School popped into my mind. It goes like this, “Count your blessings name them one by one. Count your blessings see what God has done.” Even in church I couldn’t escape math!

So here I am counting—a new grandson, food on our table, a loving family, and the list goes on, and on, and on…until it dawns on me that there is no such number! Suddenly I realize that the sum of blessings which have been bestowed upon me and those I love does not exist.

I now understand that the reason we are told to count our blessings is not because we can, but because the mere act of doing so leads us off into infinity where God dwells. It is off in those unknown numbers that we discover that the numerous problems we face here on earth are miniscule compared to the blessings we receive from above.

I see now that the Pilgrims, as they sat down to that historic Thanksgiving meal, truly knew that gratefulness was actually a powerful weapon against the impossible. If there were any people that should have thought that life was hopeless it was them. Blown off course, their ship lands far from their expected destination—who calculated that trip?

And their troubles multiplied. Divisions occurred. Lives were subtracted. Still, the Pilgrims gave thanks. It seems that they were convinced that their blessings would always outnumber the quantity of negative circumstances they encountered.

I believe that their fortitude and tenacity was fueled by their gratefulness. I believe that it was their determination to put God first in the face of incredible odds that put the capital “T” in Thanksgiving and made it a national holiday.

So what can we learn from the Pilgrims? We can learn to count. Learn to count our blessings when we’re faced with bad news; to count them when all of life’s answers don’t add up or when what we’ve always counted on leaves us short.

Count your blessings and you will soar to infinity and beyond. Count and you will find that the One who made the world in six days is the same One that you can count on to have all the correct answers.

© CCSemick 2009