The Gift of Thankfulness by Rev. Christine Emmerling D.D. 11/23/2025

This Thursday many people of this country shall be celebrating Thanksgiving Day by having a feast. Some tables may be serving the traditional turkey, dressing, gravy, yams, pumpkin pie. For others it may be tofu in place of turkey, or eat ethnic gourmet foods of other cultures.

A feast represents God’s bountiful good with plenty for everyone. Plenty to share with our family and friends regardless of the particular form it takes. Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday to celebrate our gratitude for the harvest and past blessings of the year; be it our wealth, family, friends, shelter, food, work or health; for all is God and God in Action.

We may think we want all kinds of material things that give us a sense of prestige, such as, a new car, a big house, designer clothing, the finest jewels, and an ever filled bank account. But when it comes down to what really brings us happiness, we find it to be our peace of mind, loved ones, health, purpose and our relationship to God. Without these all the riches of the world count for nothing.

When counting our blessings - having gratitude, then there isn’t anything to complain about. All that we then see, is the good, God’s ever abundant good, for God called all its creation good and very good. Let us make it a spiritual practice to find the good in our daily life. Everyday seek to find the good and give thanks for it.

Divine Science teaches that God is everywhere present and is both invisible and visible. That means all is of God even the material or physical expression. We call the visible expression Spirit Substance. Spirit in a slower vibration appears as solid form. All about us is of God — including our mind, body and soul, and the air we breathe and the food we put in it. How then can there be anything that is other than good?

Once viewing a TV science show about bacteria, at first I thought, I really don’t want to be putting this in my mind, then I saw something of interest. They showed how the most deadly bacteria can be put to good for healing. The physicists chose to look at so called bad bacteria differently; to find the good and they discovered it.

From the Bible Matthew 15:11, 17-20 & Mark 7:18-23, Jesus said, “Harken unto me every one of you, and understand: There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.”

Then Jesus went on to say, “Do you not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without enters into the man, it cannot defile him; because it enters not into his heart, but into the belly, and goes out through the intestines, thereby purifying the food? And he said, That which comes out of the man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, come evil thoughts, such as fornication, adultery, theft, murder, extortion, wickedness, deceit, lust, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; All these evils come from within, and they defile man.”

I found this of interest In 1st Timothy 4:1-5. “Now the Spirit says expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, following after misleading spirits, and doctrines of devils. Who with false appearance mislead and speak lies and are seared in their own conscience, who prohibit marriage, and demand abstinence from foods which God has created for use and thanksgiving of those who believe and know the truth.

For all things created by God are good; nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by the word of God and Prayer.”

In Romans 14:3, “Let not him that eats despise him who eats not; and let not him who eats not judge him that eats: for God has received him also.”

Then in Romans 14:13-14, 16-17, 20: “Let us not therefore judge one another any more; but rather be mindful of this, that you should never place a stumbling-block in the way of your brother. For I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that nothing unclean of itself; but to him who believes a thing to be unclean, to him only is it unclean... Let not our blessings be a reproach to any one; for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. And, let us not, because of food, destroy the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is wrong for that man who eats with offence.”

The message here is that we put away our judgements of what people eat, and to remember each culture has there own traditions. What we choose to eat is a personal choice. It is far better to love and bless each other knowing that we are all of God, and everything is of God and is good and very good.

Dr. Masaru Emoto is known for his work with water and gratitude. He took pictures of frozen cells of healthy water, sliced them, and found beautiful crystals, or in contaminated water found distortions of crystals or none at all. He used words, such as Hado, meaning I love you - I thank you.

In Dr. Emoto’s book, The True Power of Water, he tells about his experiments. In his experiments, he would write a word and put it on a glass of distilled water, but any water will do. After freezing and slicing cells, he noticed the different shapes depending upon the word given to the water. My take is that it’s not just the word being written on it, but the observer who is writing the word has an energy of intention and belief around what that word means. It is our consciousness that is impacting the water. Dr. Emoto has been using Hado medicine to heal the waters of the earth.

Dr. Emoto also describes his work with food; the power of praise and blessing of the food we eat to raise its HADO, or life force energy. He used an instrument that measures the food’s vital energy, and found a dramatic difference after being blessed. I believe this was the original intent of blessing or saying grace before eating our meals. To take a few moments in deep appreciation of the food set before us, to acknowledge the divine life of the food, and to appreciate its source, and those that helped to prepare and set the food before us. It is a full circle, for then this food we take within us, blesses us, nurtures and serves all aspects of our being.

We are taught that we can’t live very long without water or food. But, the deeper truth is we can’t live without expressing our love; it is the basic element of our nature. We say God is Love, then that Love is our true heritage and nature. When we deny love and all its aspects of Joy, Beauty, Wisdom, Peace, Abundance to name a few, then we cut off the life force of our being. And, when we focus on hate, discord, fear, lack, we actually are sending destructive messages that can overwrite our DNA and alter the proper functioning of our cells.

To bless our food is an act of recognition and transformation by lifting and increasing the energy of the food we are about to eat. A blessing is to recognize every atom is of God, is pure Spirit Substance, love in expression. This thanksgiving let us each take a few moments before diving into our feast to appreciate its beauty: look upon the food and see all the array of colors, take in the smells, each dish a delightful creation, and the whole table as a beautiful masterpiece of God in expression.

Then give thanks to those that gave of their gifts as life, time, talents, money and love to have it before us. Next give appreciation for all the people that are together in taking part of this meal. And recognizing God in every aspect, person and morsel of this meal as pure Divine Substance.

Finally as we take in each mouthful, fully appreciate the taste, texture, and chew abundantly bringing forth the full qualities of the food that it may serve our body. Then we keep our thoughts and spoken words upon gratitude, joy, and the good things in life. This is truly blessing by being totally conscious of God in the moment: This is a way to practice the presence of God in everyday actions.

We are reminded that what we think and speak is also digested and stored in our subconscious mind to later come forth to experience through our manifest world that is within us and surrounding us. As within so without.

Therefore, when we take in nourishment to keep in mind the double duty that is going on. That which we are thinking as we eat is also being digested along with our food and drink. As we think of the food we eat as a God given blessing and are grateful, this raises its frequency of love to be a blessing in every aspect of our being.

The following is a meal blessing, or what people call saying Grace: “The food of which we are going to partake is your gift, O God, pure Divine Substance, and the fruit of the labor of many beings. We are grateful for it and bless it. May it give us strength, health, joy – And may it increase our love. So it is. Amen!”

The following is a poem titled Gratitude’s Dance:

With every step, with every twirl,

Gratitude’s dance begins to unfurl.

Thankful hearts, in rhythm move,

In God’s grace, we find our groove.

Nature claps, oceans sway,

To the melody of thanks, we play.

Mountains echo, winds reply,

In harmonious gratitude, we fly.

Join the dance, lift your voice,

In God’s love, rejoice and rejoice.

For in gratitude, we find the chance,

To be part of this divine dance.

May your life be a dance of gratitude, abundantly filled with blessings given and blessings received. The circle of love and life. So it is.