The
Great Thanksgiving:
At its core the holiday of
Thanksgiving is a celebration of thanks.
It is a feast of gratitude. A chance to rejoice in appreciation of the
ordinary and extraordinary blessings in our life. We break bread; feasting in the bounty of
nourishment, embracing love, forgiveness, compassion, hope and finding
resiliency in test and trial, peace is found in endurance. The essence of the holiday is warmth, companionship
and fullness of spirit. Then why are so
many of us left empty and bitter from this holiday?
The simple lessons of Thanksgiving are
often oppressed by opposing forces. We
get tangled up in the holiday rush, the consumerism shopping demands - that are becoming more sacred in secular society that breaking bread and spending the day with thanks and giving, travel plans, family
feuds...the list goes on. Many of us come to the
thanksgiving confounded with dread, angst, betrayal, anger, frustrations, fear
and setbacks. We feel incomplete, empty
shells, unsatisfied with our lives. For
some it is financial troubles. So many
cannot afford to a Thanksgiving, or are so strapped that this meal becomes a
burden. Seemingly irreparable rifts leave some embittered, clutching
anger. Others are lonely and without
friends or family, feel desperate and scared.
Many don’t have a home and are relegated freezing conditions in the
encroaching winter. The list of life’s pressures
and conflicts, fragment our soul, weigh down our emotions, tangle our reason,
break down our fortitude, confiscate our hope, taint faith and imbue selfish
tendencies…it goes on.
Life
is a constant source of trouble.
Suffering is part of the fabric of this earthly existence. We get bogged down in the impermanence of
existence, assuming ‘what’s the point of trying, when life seems futile.’ Instead
of being grateful for what we have, even in the midst of adversity, we become
cynical creatures, ready to condemn the hopeful and dismiss faith as
lunacy. We prefer to squat in the dark
shadows, focusing on shortcomings, while clutching onto anger.
Even
in the depths of despair and uncertainty if we dig beyond the surface, we find
things to be grateful for, including the everlasting thanksgiving of Christ.
The
act of gratitude isn’t rose colored glasses ignoring life’s catastrophes,
rather it is the star that can pierce the darkness, filling our hearts with
light and sustaining our souls in time of trial.
I found gratitude to be its purest form when I’m
in the wilderness of life; times when betrayal, heartache, pain, failure,
financial trouble…is pulling me under. I
nearly drown, suffocating from the grim disorder and oppressive force of fear
and cruelty of the harsh reality of life.
As I am sinking, anchored by doubt, I find a single breath, air to fill
my lungs, from simple raw gratitude. Hope
and faith that things might be low, but life is beautiful and worth the
fight. In the end we are refined from trial. It doesn’t mean that the suffering is
enjoyable. Yet you can find joy in the
lessons learned from hardship. When we are in thick of the storm, the cold
winter nights where you nearly freeze, lost in a cloud of snow, it is
unfathomable that life will blossom again.
Pain is never desired, but even in calamity we can find blessings and
uncover truths.
Many
use the metaphor of life being a marathon, not a race. For me it is a hike, a journey through
canyons, lonely and desolate to barren deserts, mountains, thermal basins that
scald, to valleys and clear waters. I am
grateful that life is an arduous hike to the top of an electric peak. It is in the craggy spots I learn to trust
and forgive, the valleys nourish the soul with peace, they canyons a doorway
out of desperation towards a path of hope.
On
life’s trailhead you proceed with joyful trepidation. At times life is a storm, you get thrust into
disaster and unexplainable circumstances – the death of a loved one, addiction,
pain of broken dreams, loneliness…we all battle demons. Yet the clouds, dark and ominous as they
appear are merely a façade for the ocean of sky, a foundation of clear blue by
day. At night the moon is a faithful
watcher and the stars anchors in the dark abyss of night.
I’ll
admit I’m a worry wart. I’m always
fretting about deadlines and details. I
am anxious about my writing, and that my goals will fail time and again. I question, ‘what is the point?’ Thanksgiving is a lonely and desolate place
at times, yet miraculously each year it is in the angst that I find
comfort. I grow in trust and resilience. I have been crippled in the past and know
weakness. It took being humbled to
serve. It took having every material possession
stolen to understand the great blessings of clothing, food, a car and a place
to lay my head.
You
rejoice at life’s purest and simplest moments.
I shout thanks, deep and profound, from the simple act of staring at Bridger
Mountains dynamic magnificence set against the fiery Montana sunrise. The snow, harsh and unyielding, loses its
iron grip, and I become thankful for the massive snowpack that will sustain the
ecosystem through the heat and dry volatility of summer.
It
is on that bridge that you’ll discover compassion, understanding, faith, in
gratitude, a new hope is born, cautious, yet defiant. Gratitude isn’t just about what we possess
and receive, although those are important, they don’t fill you up as much as
the sustaining power of giving. Thanks-giving
has two missions that work in concert, being thankful and in that gratitude
recognizing the call to action to give, by loving your neighbor as
yourself. It is in serving that we are
served and in selfless love that we find redemption, understanding and a living
hope.
1
Thessalonians 5:18, instructs us to “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this
is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
This
is easier said than done. We anguish,
doubt and demand ransom for life’s injustice and sufferings. How can you be grateful in the midst of a
storm? I’ve learned along my journey
that it is gratitude and giving that has allowed me to endure hardship. It is the healing power of Christ, the
lessons of compassion and service to the other before myself that has allowed
me to forgive.
At
all times praise our creator, who selflessly gave his only son Jesus to redeem
us from the burden of sin…Sin is more than the act of offending, it is also the
burden of pain and suffering that we cling to, from past mistakes. It is fragmented splinters and cavities that
eat away at our foundation when ignored.
It is becomes less about the wrong committed and more about the
destruction of our psyche in holding onto the burden of anger and guilt. The same can be said for when we’ve been
victims of a great loss, pain and deception.
I am still working through the layers of angst
and hurt of past trials. With each layer
I peel back a new understanding, a deeper peace and the ability to trust in
Christ. I give up my burdens to
him. In the process of letting go, I am
overcome with gratitude for the gift of the selfless love of the God the
Father, Christ Jesus and the guiding power of the Holy Spirit. It is the sure foundation, a living word and
healing presence feeding us with the spiritual food, and real-life lessons of
service and thanks to help us navigate the treacherous wilds.
In his death we find a new hope in the
resurrection, an opportunity to rise above the abyss, filled with the light of
His love. Jesus is the Messiah,
preaching about God’s Kingdom on earth.
He sits at the throne in heaven, yet in coming down to earth, he chose
to serve with selfless love and compassion.
Jesus core teaching is rooted in service by giving up ourselves to help
others, to comfort the least among us and to tend their needs. Matthew 20:28, “…just as the Son of Man came
not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’
This
call to duty is at times uncomfortable.
We are creatures of habit that don’t like to break our shell. We cower in fear, using it as our source of
power. The truth is that fear paralyzes
and brings out the worst in humanity. We’ve
all been in the situation where we’ve seen a homeless beggar on Main Street, cold
and hungry. Some may provide the beggar
with food or cash, not taking time to interact with this child of God. Others mutter under their breath that it is a
drunkard and druggie, keeping their distance. We assume that we are too
fragile, too broken to help others. How can
we tend the needs of our neighbor, when we cannot help ourselves? Many build walls, looking for excuses to
avoid reaching out to those in need. We
are all culpable of this.
I often feel unworthy. I wonder if writing this is worth the
effort. It is in our weakness we often find
our strength. It is in human fragility
and our common experience that we can build bridges and reach out to those in
need. We give. Thanksgiving is a bridge. It allows a nurturing opportunity to provide
for those in need, to step out of your comfort zone. For some it might be a donation to the food
bank, others go so far as to invite the homeless into their homes for a
meal. Some learn to give their time,
because they too lack fortune and food.
They are grateful for what they have been given and given what they can
spare without hesitation.
I
don’t have a lot of money this thanksgiving.
In past years, I’ve gotten wound up in pity and anger – I had valid
reasons for being upset. My faith and
life journey taught me that embracing gratitude, not delusion, but pure joy for
what you have been given and more importantly what you can give makes life
worth living. It is the foundation of
thanks and giving that should guide our compass day in and out.
In
the Anglican tradition, we refer to the Eucharist as The Great
Thanksgiving. Eucharist means ‘thanksgiving.’ Attending Thanksgiving service tonight, I was
filled with the power of the gift of this ‘Great Thanksgiving.’ It is a living sustenance of faith, hope,
redemption, communion of our flesh with the spirit of Christ. We don’t walk this dark road alone. Christ selflessly serves us, nourishing our
body and spirit. His teachings demand
that we act with mercy, a calling to attend the needs of others. The healing isn’t in his miracles, as much as
the divine nature of giving. The feeding
of thousands, was a miraculous event, showing that God feeds his children and
tends the least and the greatest. Like
the manna in the desert, the Hebrews struggled with the sojourn out of Egypt –
yet God fed the Hebrew people, guiding them out of the unknown. It wasn’t easy. Many longed to return to ‘Egypt.’ Don’t we often wish to return to our own ‘Egypt,’
fleeing to the known, even if it is a dangerous place, unforgiving and
merciless?’ It takes learning first hand through experience to turn away from
old habits and embrace a new life of gratitude and giving. Perhaps that is why it is so hard for the
wealthy to lack the depth of gratitude and giving that the least exhibit. Christ calls on us to not only receive the
gift of spiritual nourishment and blessings with gratitude, but to give
selflessly.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy. (Matthew 5-6)”
The
Great Thanksgiving celebrates the selfless love of God in Christ. Even God,
begot a son in the flesh to endure the human experience, including suffering
and death. The Eucharist is the remembrance of the communion of the Last
Supper. Like thanksgiving, the Passover feast
is a time of celebration and jubilant gratitude, the promise that God would
spare the Hebrews in Egypt from the tenth plague, and a living testimony of
redemption out of suffering, a pardon from death.
Jesus
and his disciples shared in a humble feast in a borrowed Upper Room. The celebration of Passover was a time of
rejoicing, it was also a time of anguish, pain and even fear as Jesus knew that
he was going to be betrayed and abandoned, turned over for death. Yet in spite of knowledge of the impending
suffering, Jesus serves, offering a living hope and testimony through the
institution of ‘The Lord’s Supper.’
The
Great Thanksgiving in the Book of Common Prayer starts with thanks and giving.
Celebrant:
“The Lord be with you.”
People:
“And also with you.”
The
power of giving the power and knowledge of Christ is truly the greatest gift of
all. It is the sustaining force that
will never fail, if we trust and embrace Christ, accepting the kindling fire of
the spirit. A power that fuels and
burns, without scarring.
Celebrant:
“Lift up your hearts.”
People:
“We lift them to the Lord.”
Celebrant:
“Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.”
People:
“It is right to give him thanks and praise.”
Christ gives us the strength to be
lifted out of despair into thanks and giving, into hope of redemption. Hope isn’t a whimsical wish in the spiritual
context, it is a living hope, a trust of things promised will be received and
the kingdom of God is here and is coming – it is constant and unending.
“It is right, and a good and joyful
thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of
heaven and earth.”
What encouraging words, backed by
the real power of God’s gift of the Holy Spirit. Through knowledge and the spirit of Christ we
are grateful and also called to act as Christ would have us, ‘to love our
neighbor as ourselves,’ and to live a life of thanksgiving. What greater gift is there than giving up
your life to serve? Christ made the
ultimate sacrifice in giving himself over to death. Yet in dying he conquered death. Life was born out of that suffering,
resurrected.
As the bread is broken by the
Celebrant we are reminded that the bread and wine are ‘The Gifts of God for the
People of God. Take them in remembrance
that Christ died for you, and feed on him in your hearts by faith with
thanksgiving.”
Thanksgiving, let us keep the feast
with GREAT Thanksgiving. Let’s find strength
to overcome obstacles by observing the blessings, small and meek, yet mighty as
a breath to fill our lungs with air to breathe.
Thankfully embrace the other half of this holiday, giving a part of
yourself in selfless love and compassion, stepping out of comfort zones to tend
with mercy the marginalized, the downtrodden, fill the hopeless with God’s sure
promise – light pierces the dark. Find
joy in the company of neighbors and friends, listening and lifting their
burdens with love and the peace of spirit.
I’ll conclude this somewhat rambling
entry with the (benediction) closing prayer in The Great Thanksgiving.
“Eternal God, heavenly Father, you
have graciously accepted us as living members of your Son our Savior Jesus
Christ, and you have fed us with spiritual food in the Sacrament of his Body
and Blood. Send us now into the world in
peace, and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness
and singleness of heart; through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Thanks and Giving shouldn't be relegated to one day per year, but serve as a model of life we aspire to actively pursue day in and out, in dark storms and in abundance.
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