A friend who read last week’s column told me he doesn’t send thank-you notes because of the time required to write one. “Think of all the other useful things I could do with that ten minutes,” he said, “when a quick text message or email would do the job just as well.” “Not just as well,” I said, “but you have a point.” My friend could send the same words in a text message or an email and it would take a fraction of the time. And save 49 cents, but what can you buy for 49 cents these days, apart from postage for one letter? The time required is the key thing. It means something when someone you have gifted takes the time to write a note rather than express her thanks in the quickest possible way (or not at all). But times are changing. There are lots of ways to say thanks now. I find a telephone call acceptable because it includes some personal interaction. A message on the answering machine doesn’t. Email is better than nothing, but not much. Voicemail takes time and effort to access, so I don’t like it. And texting? Never mind that everyone under age 40 spends half their waking hours texting. I hate it. But why is it important to give thanks at all? It’s not just to make your benefactor feel appreciated. Thankfulness is a response to reality, a way of living. The playing field is never level. Some people seem born with everything and others born with nothing. For reasons known only to God, I was given everything. That includes a loving and challenging upbringing, good schools, work that was pleasing and profitable to me, marriage to the right person, recovery from my alcohol addiction, and 70 years of good health. I didn’t earn or deserve any of that. Yes, I studied hard in school, worked 60 hours a week as a parish priest, and went to a bunch of A.A. meetings. But I loved doing it. I won’t say I would have worked for nothing all those years, but now that I’m retired, I still do things people once paid me to do, but now it’s solely for the love of it. Some countries have it better than others, too. America, unlike most other nations, is rich in resources, geographically secure, and enjoys a functioning government and healthy economy. Some readers wouldn’t describe our government as “functioning,” and I agree that what our government does (and doesn’t do), both in Montgomery and in Washington, can be disheartening. But if you live in Africa for a while, as I have, you soon realize what a godsend our government is. My good fortune and that of America result largely from causes outside ourselves. The self-sufficient man is a myth. So is the self-sufficient country. We build on a foundation not of our own making. Some of it is God-given, some was created by those who came before us, and some comes from the labor of people we’ve never met. We are, as the piety-prone like to say, “blessed.” So what are the blessed supposed to do? Give thanks, for sure. But how do you give thanks? Write a note, but is that all? The blessed are to become blessings themselves, and we do that by giving. That’s what God does — God gives. People whom God has blessed, people like me, are to imitate what God does. We are to be givers, too. Some giving is done individually. My wife and I support our church financially and give to agencies that help those not as blessed as we are. Time is another gift. I try to use my time in ways that bless others. The same is true of nations. God expects blessed countries like the United States to share with countries granted fewer blessings. We must seek ways to give that don’t create ongoing dependencies, but the important thing is that America be a giving country, not a taking country. That becomes a question of political priorities. If I were a lawmaker, I’d ask of every government program what it gives and to whom, and if I got the wrong answer, I wouldn’t fund it.

Richard H. Schmidt is a retired Episcopal priest, editor and author who lives in Fairhope. He can be reached at courier@gulfcoastnewspapers.com.