On Taking Things for Granted – Sunday, November 24, 1946

On Taking Things for Granted – Sunday, November 24, 1946

There are times, no doubt, when all of us are moved by gratitude, and there are times when all of us become careless and indifferent to our blessings. A favor that someone does for us the first time is almost always appreciated. But a favor received a number of times may soon become a matter of commonplace expectancy or even a source of disgruntled complaint if it fails to be repeated or is slow in arriving. Blessings which have been showered upon us, often come to be looked upon as a continuing right.

So many things we take for granted: Health—until we lose it; food—until it is difficult to get; life—until it hangs in doubt—and many things besides—but we must not: not the harvest of the year, nor our daily bread, nor the comfort of home, nor the love of those who wait there—nor the blessings of God—nor life itself. Nor must we expect to receive without giving, to prosper without working, to inherit without deserving. And so, taking nothing for granted, we voice gratitude for all our blessings, naming but a few: We are thankful that men may speak their minds; that the right to vote means something; that public opinion and moral force are factors in fashioning our way of life, and that none are beyond their reach—not even those who may have supposed themselves to be above law or bigger than the welfare of a nation.

We are grateful for comforts and conveniences, but more grateful for the measure of freedom that has survived in a world where much has not survived. We are thankful for the promise of the future, and for our conviction that it holds no problem too great to be surmounted by thinking, working, reasoning men. For these and all other blessings we give gratitude to God, our Father, and earnestly hope we may never take them for granted, for it is exceedingly hazardous to abuse or to take for granted any right or privileges ‘or blessing.

“The Spoken Word,” heard over Radio Station K S L and the nationwide Columbia Broadcasting System, from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Sunday, November 24, 1946, 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon, EST. Copyright 1946.
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November 24, 1946
Broadcast Number 0,901