Helen Keller’s Story
Helen Keller is great example of a person who conquered physical handicaps. Before she was two years old, Helen suffered a brain fever causing lost sight and hearing. Because of this she was unable to speak. Helen was shut off from the world. For the next 5 years she was a wild, unruly, kicking & scratching little girl.
Then her father sought help at the Perkins Institution for the Blind in Boston. Shortly before her seventh birthday, a teacher named Anne Sullivan arrived to help. Mrs. Sullivan made contact with Helen through the sense of touch. In time Helen learned to read and write. At ten she learned to speak. Ms. Keller graduated from Radcliffe College with honors. Throughout a long life, Helen became a symbol of courage to millions of blind people.
She once wrote, “I’ve always thought it would be a blessing if each person could be blind and deaf for a few days during his early adult life. Darkness would make him appreciate sight; silence would teach him the joys of sound.
The Sickness of Ingratitude
I don’t think Helen meant any malice when she penned these words. Helen Keller saw a disease more dreaded than blindness. She could see the sickness of ingratitude; a spiritual illness that poisons human spirit.
Ingratitude is the inability to give thanks; an unwillingness to appreciate life’s blessings. Those with this disease complain a lot and more is never enough. Acts of kindness, like receiving a birthday card, getting a compliment are lost. The ungrateful are blind and deaf to the manifold gifts God brings each day.
The Thanksgiving Legacy of Job
A long time ago, a man suffered great loss. First his property was destroyed or stolen. Then all his children were killed. In time, his health broke. Job suffered like no human being and gave God thanks in spite of his pain. Listen to Job.
And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. (Job 1:21-22 ESV)
An attitude of gratitude sees the familiar and routine and gives thanks. An attitude of gratitude doesn’t dwindle in the face of suffering and loss.
In 1789 George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving Proclamation. He declared, “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge and be grateful for His beneficence.”
Abraham Lincoln, almost 100 years later said in his Thanksgiving Proclamation, “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven…God should be solemnly and reverently and gratefully acknowledged by all Americans.”
Village Schools of the Bible is Grateful
At Village Schools of the Bible we are grateful for the Lord’s blessing and supply; for our donors, our board, our teachers, our students and alumni. We give thanks for you all.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Warren
Village Schools of the Bible 