Thankful

Pastor Jay Petrella
Graceham Moravian Church

(11/1) The march of time waits for no one. As we finish off the remaining pieces of Halloween candy and commit our jack-o’-lanterns to the compost heap, we dive headlong into the season of Thanksgiving. I love a good Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, gravy and stuffing, without oysters thank you. Green bean casserole, sweet potatoes with golden brown marshmallows on top. And who can forget the cranberry sauce? Now, I hope I don’t lose this publication any readers when I say that the cranberry sauce ideally should be gelatinous, can shaped, and served in circular slices. Sure, the fancy cranberry sauce lovingly made with real cranberries, orange peel and all those tiny, fibrous pieces that get stuck in your teeth is fine. But in my book, nothing beats the stuff from a can that makes slurping sounds as it flops out onto a serving platter.

Then, beyond the bountiful meal, and the inevitable late afternoon naps, you have the deeper meaning of Thanksgiving. There is a lot of lore around the origins of the holiday. I’m sure some of what I’ve heard over the years is historical fact while other aspects may be a bit apocryphal. For instance, I don’t think the pilgrims actually ate green bean casserole, because where on Earth would they have bought knockoff brand cream of mushroom soup? Since I’m obviously not any kind of authority on that subject allow me instead to write a bit about the act of giving thanks.

I imagine Thanksgiving to be centered around the closing out of the agricultural year. For months farmers toiled over, fretted over and did battle with the elements, the soil, their own equipment and even their own bodies. After months and months of that stress and worry, the harvest has been gathered, sold, stored in barns, and preserved in jars. After all that hard work the family can finally breathe a sigh of relief. They made it through another year and there’s enough in their stores to get them through another winter. So as the family or even the community gathers around a table filled with the literal fruits, vegetables and grains their labor, they give thanks.

I’m not talking about any sort of hollow gestures of giving thanks here. I think there’s a difference between genuine, heartfelt thanksgiving and the barely audible, mumbled-to-oneself, thanks. Like the customary usage of the phrase, "how are you doing" as a greeting. The cultural norm is for the recipient of that greeting to smile, nod and say, "fine" or perhaps, "good" before both parties move along. That, as opposed to a genuine concern for the other person’s well-being and an invitation into a time of heartfelt sharing. Genuine thanksgiving can be profound, powerful and beneficial, much like a heartfelt, "so, how you really doing."

Our world and our lives can be so filled with reasons to be upset. First you have personal struggles of every kind. Then you have family, workplace and cultural struggles. Add in community concerns of local, national and global varieties. Everything from politics, to culture, to religion. There is struggle and disharmony just about wherever you look it seems. Then you add in television and Internet into the mix. These medias are tremendous pieces of technology we’ve invented as a means of communication and education. But one of the downsides is that instead of being on your own to notice all of the problems going on around you, you get the help of billions of people across the globe bringing to your attention all of the anger and grief inducing matters you would otherwise be unaware of. And because the television and Internet doesn’t have business hours like a bank or pharmacy, we can allow ourselves to be bombarded with disaster, trauma and outrage around the clock.

This is not healthy for us in any way. Mentally, emotionally, spiritually it can distort our view of reality and destroy us. More and more scientists and doctors are finding connections between our inner mental/emotional health, and our physical health. The one inexorably impacting the other, for better or worse.

Of course, barring any mental health issues that require professional, medical intervention, sometimes just the constant barrage of anxiety, fear, panic and anger can devastate us individually. It can devastate whole families and communities. Perhaps you yourself have been feeling a bit tense, a bit down, a bit doom and gloom lately. Perhaps you have a family member, a friend, or colleague whose personality has drastically changed over the past number of years, as they spiraled down into a perpetual state of outrage.

Now there are legitimate concerns out there in the world and within our personal lives. I’m not trying to de-legitimize those things. There is serious injustice in this world that needs to be corrected. There are people out there with malicious intent who must be stopped. God himself has asked us to do justice and love mercy. We are told to see to it the poor have food to eat and have clothes to wear. We’ve been instructed by the the Messiah himself to care for those who are sick and welcome the strangers and aliens among us. We followers of Christ indeed have a lot of work to do, and many things to be concerned about.

But there’s also a lot of good in the world to celebrate and be thankful for. Yes, there’s darkness but there is a whole lot of light, light that we cannot see if we lock ourselves away in the dark. In John 14:27 Jesus says, "My peace I give to you. So do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." We squander the peace Christ gives to us, we allow ourselves to be robbed of that peace when we surround ourselves, day in and day out, by dark thoughts.

Thanksgiving is more than a Thursday in November. It is more than turkey and can-shaped cranberry sauce. It should be a way of life. A means of grounding ourselves in reality. A means of reminding ourselves, mind, body and spirit, that despite all the things going wrong, there’s a whole lot of things going right. And even barring nothing else going right, the fact that we are loved by God, that we have been freed of the condemnation of the Law, that we stand to inherit eternal life, if truly appreciated, ought to be enough light to resist all the darkness of this world.

Later this month by all means eat your turkey with gusto and nap like you’ve never napped before. But if you’re feeling a bit worn, a bit down, spread a bit too thin, don’t forget to give thanks. Reflect on the things you have to be thankful for, no matter how big or small. Turn off cable news for a while, ignore social media in all its iterations and be genuinely thankful. As you do so, watch your peace be restored. Watch as the light returns to the world.

TO learn more about Graceham Moravian Church visit them at www.gracehammoravian.org or better yet, join them for Sunday service.