JOSEPH F. SMITH'S GRATITUDE FOR BLESSINGS

[This story was told by Ezra Taft Benson:]

The Prophet Joseph is reported to have said at one time that one of the greatest sins for which the Latter-day Saints would be guilty would be the sin of ingratitude. I presume most of us have not thought of that as a serious sin. There is a great tendency for us in our prayers -- in our pleadings with the Lord -- to ask for additional blessings. Sometimes I feel we need to devote more of our prayers to expressions of gratitude and thanksgiving for blessings already received. Of course we need the daily blessings of the Lord. But if we sin in the matter of prayer, I think it is in our lack of the expressions of thanksgiving for daily blessings.
President Brigham Young uttered very much the same warning as the Prophet Joseph -- that this would be one of our great sins as Latter-day Saints. I do not think this is because we are less grateful than other people -- but we have so much more to be grateful for.
This was driven home to me as a young man when I heard of a visit made to the home of my grandfather, George Taft Benson, who was then bishop of a little country ward at Whitney, Idaho. Elder Joseph F. Smith was visiting the old Oneida Stake of Zion. He had arranged to honor my grandfather and to take a meal at his home. The table was laden with good things to eat. The family was gathered around -- I don't know how many (there were thirteen children in that wonderful family and I presume some of them were away on missions as they usually were).
Just before they were ready to start the meal, President Smith stretched his long arms over the table and turned to my grandfather and said, "Brother Benson, all this and the gospel too?" What did President Smith mean? All this and the gospel too? The food represented the good things of life -- food, clothing, and all the rest -- the material blessings of life. This family of children -- home, family, loved ones -- all that the world has and the gospel too. I think that is what the Prophet Joseph had in mind.
(Ezra Taft Benson, "Receive All Things with Thankfulness," _New Era_, November 1976, p. 5)

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