Of all the reasons I’ve had to be thankful this past week, one tops the list.
It’s not all the great food I got to share.
It’s not all the friends I got to see.
It’s not even that I got to spend a lot of time with my family, especially most of my children. Although it’s hard to top that.
And it’s not that I received some great late birthday and early Christmas gifts. But I do want to talk about one for a minute.
Several years ago, I helped my guitarist son buy a 1940s Kingston acoustic guitar. It’s different than a lot of other guitars.
It has 20 frets, with a dot on the 10th fret instead of the usual ninth. It also has F-holes instead of the typical round sound hole, and a few other unique features.
We knew the guitar needed repairs but figured the cost would be offset by how much we saved in the purchase. We were wrong. Consequently, it was never repaired.
When my son asked me recently if I wanted the guitar — he’s downsizing before moving to the West Coast — I said I did. Sunday, he handed it to me.
It can’t stay in tune and would probably come apart with regular playing in its current condition. But if you know its limitations and can play, it can sound OK and still produce beautiful music.
The guitar is not at the top of my giving thanks list, but it reminds me of what is. Or rather, who is.
God can take someone who has been mistreated and abused, who has more limitations than others, and see the beauty in them. He is the beauty in them, after all.
Every human was created in his image. Every single one has tremendous value. And in his hands, beautiful music can come from them.
Though this Kingston guitar will likely hang on my wall as a work of art, not often being played, it was not made for that purpose.
It was made to produce music — an instrument in the hands of someone who creates music.
We weren’t created to just try to look pretty, either. We were made to produce “music” in the hands of our Creator.
We were made to be used by him. And he loves us beyond our comprehension. So, we know however he uses us will be the best possible way.
So the one who tops my list, the one for whom I am most thankful, is my God — the one who brought me to Newton County 35 years ago and the one who still sees beauty and potential in my worn, stained and beaten countenance.
Thank God.
