Tis the season of celebration. To me, Thanksgiving is the holiday that we in the US of A do best. Everyone can get into it. There’s not the horrible over-commercialization as we have with other holidays. All people living in this great and wounded country are able to reflect, realize and give thanks for so much – despite imperfections and mistakes.
The opening line of Psalm 107 is, “Give thanks to the One who alone IS, for God’s steadfast love lasts for all time.” We all have experienced that life is filled with experiences that are much less than good, and people who do bad things that impact us and many, many others. Still the Scriptures remind us that, “God’s will for us is to give thanks in ALL circumstances, while praying continuously (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
There’s the rub. How hard it is to give thanks in all circumstances! Yes, it’s easy to give thanks for all the good stuff. Yet so much goes on that seems immersed in evil. People get hurt. Creation is despoiled. Greed and injustice seem rampant. Too much looking out for numero uno. How can we thank God when these kinds of choices and acts mount up day after day?
Let’s go back to Psalm 107. It doesn’t ask us to give thanks for anything that happens, or for what anyone does or doesn’t do. It commands us to give thanks to God because God’s faithful love permeates every moment – no matter what is going down. We give thanks because God is lovingly with us in each and every circumstance that we (and everyone) live through. So, what do we choose to focus on: God’s amazing love that surrounds us, or the misery? We are never abandoned or alone. Our non-stop gratitude is right and good.
Bob says:
Amen Tim. The wise ones tell us we can find joy in the most terrible circumstances.
From experience I know the truth of this.The universe is a blast of love. We earthlings
are given the ability to jump off the tracks and make ourselves miserable.
You help me remember. Thanks!
Jana Buckley says:
This is a good reminder to read the Scriptures carefully and not to read into the Scriptures what we want it to say.
“It doesn’t ask us to give thanks for anything that happens, or for what anyone does or doesn’t do. It commands us to give thanks to God because God’s faithful love permeates every moment – no matter what is going down.”