My 3 year old daughter has a CD that she likes to listen to that features a children’s musician named Raffi. One of the songs she likes is a song called, “All I Really Need.” Here is a taste of some of the lyrics…
“All I really need is a song in my heart, food in my belly, and love in my family
All I really need is a song in my heart, and love in my family
And I need the rain to fall
And I need the sun to shine
To give life to the seeds we sow
To give the food we need to grow”
It is a sweet little song with an encouraging message, but whenever I think of it, I am reminded of a scene from the movie “The Jerk.” For those of you who have never seen the movie, first let me say, that I am not recommending it. I learned a long time ago, to not recommend movies, because different people have different ideas about what is good and what is acceptable. But I saw this movie many years ago and there is one scene in particular that I remember.
The movie stars Steve Martin and at one point he is leaving and as he is walking out he is picking things up while saying, “And that’s the only thing I need is *this*. I don’t need this or this. Just this ashtray… And this paddle game. – The ashtray and the paddle game and that’s all I need… And this remote control. – The ashtray, the paddle game, and the remote control, and that’s all I need… And these matches. – The ashtray, and these matches, and the remote control, and the paddle ball… And this lamp. – The ashtray, this paddle game, and the remote control, and the lamp, and that’s all *I* need. And that’s *all* I need too. I don’t need one other thing, not one… I need this. – The paddle game and the chair, and the remote control, and the matches for sure. Well what are you looking at? What do you think I’m some kind of a jerk or something! – And this. That’s all I need.”
That movie scene and the song by Raffi are not the same thing at all. The movie is more a reminder of our messed up look at life and how we are not content without silly little things that don’t really matter, while the song is a reminder that we have a whole lot of things that we take for granted that are all we really need. And when we are reminded of those things it can encourage us to give thanks.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t give thanks nearly enough. It is far easier for me to grumble about what I don’t have than to give thanks for what I do. But all that typically changes around Thanksgiving time. That is when I tend to remember all of those simple things that I really need, that I tend to take for granted. And it is a time when I finally take the time to stop and give thanks for those things.
Of course, the next day is Black Friday and then we decide that all we really need is that lamp, and that new Blu-Ray player, and that washing machine, and…
This Sunday Pastor Rob will be taking a closer look at the story of Noah and the Flood and tying it in with the heart of Thanksgiving. Join us at The River, 2510 Chaska Blvd. at 9:30 a.m. to hear more. And if you miss this Sunday, you might want to check out our online sermon link to listen online.