When I was a little boy, my parents asked me to return thanks at the dinner table. I don’t know if it was at Thanksgiving or some other occasion, but I am told that it was when a lot of the family were gathered together.

I suppose I already had the inclination to be a preacher at that tender age, and so with a captive audience, I launched into a long litany of thanksgivings. I thanked God for everybody in the room and every item of food on the table. My mother, impatient with my long prayer, decided to bring it to an end by pronouncing “Amen” over my prayer.

Undeterred, I looked up at her and said, “But Mom, I’m not finished yet!”

I heard about another 4-year-old boy who was asked to return thanks before dinner during the holidays. The family members bowed their heads in expectation.

He began his prayer, thanking God for all his friends, naming them one by one. Then he thanked God for Mommy, Daddy, brother, sister, Grandma, Grandpa, and all his aunts and uncles.

Then he began to thank God for the food. He gave thanks for the turkey, the dressing, the fruit salad, the cranberry sauce, the pies, the cakes, even the Cool Whip. Then he paused, and everyone waited — and waited.

After a long silence, the young fellow looked up at his mother and asked, “If I thank God for the broccoli, won’t he know that I’m lying?”

Even in tough economic times, we should all be thankful for something without lying about it. Psalm 30:12 (God’s Word Translation) says, “O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.” So like I said when I was a boy, “I’m not finished yet!”

Copyright 2008 by Bob Rogers. E-mail brogers@fbcrincon.com. Read this column each Friday for a mix of religion and humor. For more “Holy Humor,” go to the Web page of First Baptist Church of Rincon at www.fbcrincon.com.