Giving Thanks in All Things

(Originally Published November 23rd)

Giving Thanks in All Things

Perhaps like ours, your Thanksgiving dinner table looks a bit different this year. I lost two aunts this year, one of whom was THRILLED for any family gathering that involved food, especially if it was at my parent’s house, and one who never came to family holiday gatherings.And although my daughter and I aren’t at the family homestead for Thanksgiving, I’m mindful of these losses. Family is complicated, isn’t it? 

When I was a professor, I used to joke with my ethics students each fall that I would be sure to send them home to Thanksgiving supper with lots of things to argue with their parents about. I mean, they were going to argue anyway, why not at least make it interesting?! 

The truth is that holidays rarely match the Hallmark version sold to us with our bags of stuffing mix. Even when things do go perfectly, someone is going to bed with achy legs from cooking and doing dishes. But, we don’t need things to be Hallmark perfect to remember today, Thanksgiving day, to give thanks for our blessings, whatever they may be. 

In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, part of Paul’s list of how to keep on living the Christian life even when you are disappointed (in the case of the Thessalonians, disappointed because Christ had not yet returned), we are reminded to “give thanks in all circumstances.” Not for all circumstances, but rather in all circumstances. You don’t have to be thankful for things that harm you or harm the world. You don’t have to be thankful for things that cause you grief. You don’t have to be thankful for family losses you didn’t want. But in the midst of whatever comes your way, I pray that you might recognize God’s presence all around you and speak it out loud. Isn’t that really what giving thanks is - seeing God at work in the world and naming it with awe? 

Friends, this Thanksgiving, I give thanks for each one of you and pray that in the midst of whatever today brings you might find a few moments to sit still and give thanks to God for all God’s many graces. 

Blessings,

Pastor Amy

Around the Table

God, awaken us to the everyday miracle

of a simple meal.

Whether it is takeout that took a phone call,

or a recipe that took an entire afternoon, 

or the cereal-for-dinner-again feeling

this meal creates,

Bless it all.

So blessed are we, sharing a meal today.

May we recognize God’s goodness

in the thoughtful preparation,

in the delivering,

in the eating together, 

savoring something that tastes like love.

May our time around the table be a gift.

May we be present to one another,

engaging all our senses

as an act of thankful worship

for the nourishment that’s before us

with the people we love. Or are trying to.

God, bless the hands that prepared this,

those with us now,

and the ones we wish were.

Bless us, oh God.

in all our eating and cooking

and gathering and sharing,

our jokes, talking with our mouths full,

and elbows on the table,

may we taste and see the love that multiplies.

Amen.