And be thankful!

Thanks to the kind folks who gave me encouraging feedback on Sunday. It was an over-long sermon but that probably stemmed from trying to take a longer passage from Colossians for the exposition than I should.

The part which seems to have had most impact was our reflection on Colossians 3.15b - "And be thankful."

I've had a number of comments and conversations on the myth that our happiness is just one purchase away, driven by incessant marketing which tells us that we should be dissatisfied with what we have, leading us to work harder and longer to get the cash to pay the debt for what we bought, and driving us to too many evenings where we're too exhausted to do anything but watch TV. If this pushed buttons for you, here's a clip from the wonderful, The Story of Stuff, which kind of makes the same point:

Contrary to our apparent powerlessness, gratitude is a powerful weapon to break the myth and a wonderful antidote to misery-inducing dissatisfaction.