Readings: Deut.
8:1-3,6-10; Mt. 6:25-33
November 28, 2002
The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
Moses said to the Hebrew people: “Remember the Lord your God...If you do forget the Lord your God and follow other gods to serve and worship them...you shall surely perish.” (Deut. 8)
The cartoon characters, Bart Simpson and his family, were expecting a very important guest for the thanksgiving feast. They went out and bought lots of food and fixings and diligently prepared them for the feast. When it came time to sit down and eat, Bart was asked to give thanks. He folded his hands and said something like this: “Dear God, we bought all this stuff with our own money, so I don’t know why we have to thank you.”
It is into this context that we read the words of Moses on this Thanksgiving Day. In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses reminds the Hebrew people never to forget the Lord their God from whom all blessings flow. Having escaped from slavery in the land Egypt, and having traveled in the desert for years and years, the people are about to enter the promised land; a land of wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, of bread and honey. And while they now have a chance of living a settled life with an abundance of food, Moses cautions them, that unless they ground themselves in God, their new social experiment will not work out. In other words, unless God becomes the center of their universe, their ability to live in a compassionate, generous, and life giving community, will fail.
Giving thanks for the abundance of blessings in our lives, having the consciousness that our world and all that is in it is far greater than each one of us, and being aware of the interconnectedness of life, is necessary in the spiritual journey towards wholeness. Gratitude helps us to have a more positive outlook towards life, even when things are difficult. Unfortunately, it seems easier to notice and dwell on the challenges of life rather than the blessings. Let me give you a few examples.
A few years ago, I read a letter in Ann Lander’s column from a woman who was responding to another woman’s complaint about her husband. Woman #1 had complained that her husband (although a good man) was a slob. She was tired of picking up after him and needed some advice. Woman #2 responded by saying that she would love to be able to pick up after her husband. You see, she was recently widowed, and was filled with grief and loneliness, having lost her husband of many years. She advised the complaining wife to open her eyes and be grateful for what she did have, rather than focus on what she didn’t have. Oftentimes, we do take our partners for granted, failing to give thanks for the blessing of their presence in our lives.
Not long ago, Joni Hilton bumped into a friend of hers at the supermarket. They launched into complaining about how stressed they were feeling. After all, they were chauffeuring the kids to various activities and doctor appointments, dealing with deadlines at work, and trying to keep their households running smoothly. Then Joni caught a glimpse of another friend, across the store, who had been trying for 10 years to have a baby. That friend would have given her eye teeth for just one week of the motherhood that Joni took for granted and was grumbling about.
A home with a broken washing machine is better than no home at all. A job that is less than perfect is better than being unemployed. A phone that won’t stop ringing is better than the loneliness that can come about when a phone never rings. A thanksgiving feast with a dry turkey and cheap wine is better than being hungry on the streets. Giving thanks for what we do have can transform a challenge into a blessing. That is what giving thanks is all about.
On Thanksgiving Day, I always like to remember our Puritan Brothers and Sisters who came to this country under extreme hardships in order to freely practice their religion. In spite of the fact that that over 50% of them had died during their first winter in the New World, they gladly held a feast of Thanksgiving following their first harvest. Over a period of three days, they gave thanks to God for what they did have. Some of you may know that during the second year, their harvest was not as plentiful, and they experienced a shortage of food. So during the third year, during the hot and dry summer, they held a day of fasting and prayer, in hope for a decent harvest. The rains began! On November 29th, 1623, they celebrated the third harvest and thus began the tradition of Thanksgiving Day.
It makes me sad to think that some people actually believe that all they have comes from themselves. Today’s readings from the Scriptures set us straight! Who visits the earth and waters it abundantly? Who prepares the grain and provides for the earth? Who drenches the furrows and smoothes out the ridges and softens the ground with heavy rain? (Ps. 65) Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet Solomon and all his glory was not clothed like one of these. (Mt. 6)
FOR THESE AND ALL THY GIFTS O LORD, WE GIVE THANKS!
| Updated 12/1/02 |
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