Thanksgiving, 2022
Dear Peace members and friends,
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I hope this holiday is a blessed one for you; even in the midst of whatever challenges you are facing.
May I make a suggestion? Many of you have a Thanksgiving ritual of going around the table and answering the question, “What are you grateful for?” Yes, it is a good thing to point to the many gifts of our lives. But it isn’t always helpful to say, “I’m grateful for…..” Notice what happens. We express thanks for material things, successes, and whatever we consider to be blessings. In effect, when we use the word “for,” we often end up being thankful for the stuff of our lives. And, of course, we can and should be grateful for life’s material blessings.
But gratitude is more than the preposition, “for.” Other prepositions help us see something deeper than the appreciation of things. The pandemic, with all its loss and suffering, and the divisions around us has made giving thanks more difficult.
Maybe this Thanksgiving is a good time to ask some other questions as you gather around the table tomorrow: “To whom or what are you grateful?” “What challenges have you been grateful through?” “Have you been grateful with others?” “Where have you been grateful within?” “Has something in your life been changed by being grateful?” “In what circumstances have you experienced thankfulness?” Those prepositions—for, to, through, with, within, by, or in gratitude—open up a new world for which to thank God.
Let me give those questions a try. Certainly, one of the blessings I will be noting tomorrow is this: Peace Church and all of you. I’m thankful to God and to you, because through the challenges of the pandemic and times of grief and loss, you have been faithful in ministry; with you we have continued to gather together in praise of Jesus Christ; and I am encouraged within and others have been given life in Christ by our life together. That’s a start, anyway!
Thank you, Peace…..and Happy Thanksgiving!
Mark