A ‘note’-able effort to make someone’s day

Thank you notes.

My wife made banana bread for some of the folks at work last week. Out of the seven, only one sent a thank you note (via text, but it was an animated “thank you” meme, so she counted it).

It reminded me of a story in the Bible – more on that to come later – and my son getting married this past Saturday (so very blessed and honored to be able to perform the ceremony).

They’re honeymooning in Alabama – the highlight: camping on the highest mountain to look at the Milky Way through a telescope. It won’t be long before they’re back and they will be writing “thank you” notes.

Also, my wife and I were shopping at Goodwill on the Saturday before. Lo and behold, what was on the shelf? “Thank you” notes.

Her: “Do you think we should get these for them?”

Me, in all my years and years of wisdom: “Uh huh.”

So, “thank you” notes are on my mind. Somewhere buried in my treasure trove of junk is a “thank you” note from then-President Bill Clinton (uh, yeah), thanking us for our 20 years of military service.

“Thank you” notes date back to the 1400s, according to Bing: “when Europeans began exchanging greeting cards with family and friends. This practice was a new form of social expression, and before that, Chinese and Egyptian cultures had been writing messages on papyrus to communicate goodwill. In 1856, Pouis Prang, a German immigrant, brought thank you notes to the United States.”

They have an opposite: The dreaded “nastygram”. Too often today, that’s what we experience and see, especially on social media. I.e. I was searching for “Georgia” people to connect with on TikTok, so I made a video. I managed to connect with several dozen, but then there was “I DESTROY BEANS,” who posted a meme on my link: “Didn’t care. Didn’t ask. Plus your (sic) gay.”

I’ve had verbal messages from church folks that basically left me shaking my head in “unbelievable” fashion just minutes before stepping up into the pulpit, but never a “note” from a parishioner like one an anonymous pastor I read about received. All eyes closed, it was slipped into his hand during prayer. His first inclination was that it was a “thank you” note. “Aw. How sweet.”

Nope. It was from a woman who had tried to see him that Friday, his day off. “She took offense at my absence and blasted me with hateful accusations.”

Church folk, am I right?

Surely what the world needs now is not the “nastygram.” It’s the “thank you” note. (By the way, I’m glad you’re a subscriber. Not because I want your money – okay, so there is that – but because there are so many things in the newspaper I’m glad we get to share; to be educated on some things, entertained on some things, be part of a community together, just hopefully consider us family with you. Yes, that’s a sincere “thank you” note.)

As mentioned at the beginning, this began as a reminder of a Bible story: the time when 10 lepers came to Jesus with the plea: “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

Jesus: “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed, it continued. If you know the story, only one came back with a “thank you” note, albeit a verbal one. (In fact, it says he threw himself at Jesus’s feet and thanked him).

Jesus, in a follow-up to his act of worship: “Were not all ten cleansed? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” (He was a Samaritan, which, if you know, was looked down upon by the Jews.)

Did you give God a “thank you” note this morning? Praise Him? Thank Him for all of the blessings (things, things and more things; i.e., possessions, health …) He has given you?

We’re typically very good at that, but this time, why not take it a step further? Look around you at the people who have supported you, cared for you, loved you, and were there for you – in good times and bad.

Today, like the leper, let’s all take the time to go back and give them a “thank you” note.

And … “thank you” for that.