On any clear day in Hammonton you have only to look at the skies above our city to see a phenomenon which has become quite familiar - contrails left by high flying jet aircraft. Some contrails last but a short time and dissipate. Others remain for hours leaving long white trails. As time passes all of these contrails driven by high altitude winds broaden. Some remain as individual trails. Others merge and become one. Still others cross other contrails and leave a woven mosaic across the blue sky. In time all dissolve but the sun and the blue skies remain continuing to radiate beauty to all. For without the sun and the sky the contrails would have no visible existence.
In our lifetime just like contrails people come into our lives. Like the contrails that fade, there are people whom we meet, perhaps even share moments with, but people who leave within a short time, are forgotten and pass into history. Then there are people who not only come into our lives but merge with us and share their lives with ours – our parents, grandparents, spouses, children, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins, and best friends. Like contrails they shine with a brightness that gives meaning and strength to our lives. Like contrails, with the passage of time they broaden their effect in our lives and motivate us to greater things. Their love for us and ours for them grows stronger with each passing day. Still others like coworkers, neighbors and friends crissscross our lives constantly adding texture, beauty and delight that give us such great happiness and joy.
But just as the bright sun and blue skies make contrails visible, so does the radiance of God’s love make those who touch our lives become apparent. For all of those who touch our lives in anyway are truly God’s gift to us. They give meaning to our lives whether it’s in their sharing with us or in their motivating us to higher things. Thanksgiving Day should occur every day for us as we take the opportunity to thank our Heavenly Father for those He has sent into our lives. As they have touched us and brought us to the deeper realization of what life is all about, so we, too, touch their lives and the lives of others. We are God’s gift to hem as they are to us. Together let’s praise God and thank Him for His unbounded love, care and concern for all of us by sending us the living gifts of relatives and friends who form contrails in our lives.