by Cindy Walker Burton

In November, an aluminum platter was passed around my church congregation with a Sharpie marker. Was it time to confess sins publicly on a pew to pew platter? No, silly! We were to write one word describing what we were most thankful for. Responses included family, military, Jesus, freedom, nature, employment, education, food, medicine, health, and memories. These were all thoughtful and intuitive answers. But something was missing from the thankful platter.

I have found that certain something. One tree produces 260 pounds of it annually. It sustains plant and animal life.The something I have found is OXYGEN!

Did oxygen top your thankful list during the waist-expanding, diet reprimanding Thanksgiving holiday? If you answered no, you  just “passed gas!”

Seriously though, this gas is in a class all by itself for five reasons:

1. It’s TRUSTY. Oxygen is vital for respiration, combustion, and photosynthesis.

2. It’s CRUSTY. Oxygen is the most abundant element in the earth’s crust.

3.  It’s MASSY. Two-thirds of the human body’s mass is oxygen.

4. It’s SURPASSY. Solid, liquid, or gas? Bingo!

5. It’s GASSY. Colorless, odorless, tasteless, shapeless.

I am thankful for oxygen which sustains and maintains. I am eternally thankful for the Ultimate Sustainer and Maintainer: Jesus. “He himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.” (Acts 17:25)

Jesus, thank you for the breath of life.