Be Thankful!

A preacher in the spotlight surrounded by money preaches to poor people across a chasm, "Be thankful!"

I'll be honest with you:

I don't have a problem with preachers or churches that collect money and sometimes lots of it. I really don't. 

But I do have a problem with the hoarding of it, the not sharing of it, the greed for it, the taking advantage of the needy to acquire it.

I also don't have a problem with financially successful people who've earned a lot of money and businesses that thrive.

But I do have a problem with the mistreatment of employees, the meagre pay they sprinkle on their hard workers, and the excess of capital in the face of enormous disparities in "income" between the people earning their money and the ones building their fortunes off of their employees efforts.

I also don't have a problem with successful people giving advice on how to succeed and how to enjoy life.

But I do have a problem when they are completely unaware and oblivious to the real suffering of real people.

The greatest lesson I ever learned in gratitude was when I went to Haiti after the earthquake in 2010. I had just left the ministry and the church. I was broke, literally bankrupt, completely lost, confused, unemployed, wounded and hurt.

But I met some amazing people there who were victims of this horrible catastrophe. They taught me about being thankful. Their gratitude was infectious. I could feel the genuineness of it.

When someone who has nothing teaches you about gratitude, the preachings of the ones who have everything sounds empty.