Giving Thanks

As we approach Thanksgiving Day in the United States, the theme of gratitude begins to emerge in planning for the celebration of the day, the food, the cards, travel plans, etc., and even our liturgical readings have been focusing on gratitude, although independently, of the national holiday.  Today we read of the ONE leper who returned to Jesus to say thank you, while the other nine, elated by the cure, continued on their merry way without a word of gratitude. (Lk 17: 11-19). 
Do we need a major cure or event in our own lives before we offer, thanks, praise and glory to God, the Giver of All Good Gifts?  What about the little things, the ones we take for granted, and in our haste or preoccupation with self or the next item on our "To Do List" ?  We might stop on the hour to say thank you for the little gifts of the past hour:  the good mornings we received from others, our working internet, the air we've been breathing, our breakfast...it doesn't take long to make a long list.  Why should our gratitude be relegated to one day?  A good habit would be to offer thanks frequently during the day...for the good things, and for the "bad" things, as we perceive them, which later often turn out to be good things.  God's gifts come in abundance, in all sizes, shapes and forms...May our eyes be open to see them, and our hearts open to give thanks for them.
Bro. Rene