Thanksgiving Defined by the Suffering Saints

What if everything that I said that I was thankful for today disappeared tomorrow? Would I still be thankful? What would I be thankful for?

I am so grateful for the testimony of the saints who have gone before us and left us a record of praise to God in the absence of any earthly comfort. These men and women who have suffered and still offered thanksgiving, define what is truly the heart of all of our thanksgiving: God, Himself.

From Richard Wurmbrand, Tortured for Christ:

In solitary confinement, we could not pray as before. We were unimaginably hungry; we had been drugged until we acted like idiots. We were as weak as skeletons. The Lord's Prayer was much too long for us - we could not concentrate enough to say it. My only prayer repeated again and again was, "Jesus, I love you."

Can you even imagine that? A dark prison cell, no earthly companionship, hunger, delusion, filth?

Thank God for the faithful saints that teach us to pray, "Jesus, I love you" regardless of the circumstances. What great, great faith.