But he (Jesus Christ) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I (the apostle Paul) will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. II Corinthians 12:9-10
Here is my honest truth: I’m not in the mood for Thanksgiving this year.
Not feeling it.
It’s been another tough year out there. Perhaps you feel the same way, for any variety of possible reasons. For millions of people in places like Darfur, Gaza, and Ukraine, among others, this has been a year of scarcity rather than of plenty, while for hundreds of others it has been a year of prosperity almost beyond measure, or certainly prior comparison. It would be nice if we could say the folks on both ends of that equation were deserving of their fates. But it would be beyond tough for me to even imagine that.
Social injustice in this world makes life especially tough for me to witness and then appreciate. Yet in these times I am seeing criminals rise to the top despite their deceit, and civil servants (whistleblowers) fall to the bottom because of their honesty.
Thanks but no thanks. We live in an upside down world, our own nation included.
So how to approach Thanksgiving this year? That’s a question, not a comment.
Speaking for myself, I have opted to “give thanks anyway.” Quite honestly, some of my decision rests on the experiences I had as a child being raised on a farm out in northeast Colorado, an area highly prone to hail storms. My father, a grain farmer, knew what it was like to see entire fields of winter wheat ready for the summer’s harvest only to be wiped out by hailstones, both small and large. Some years the best we could do was salvage enough grain to plant the next year’s crop. So we gave thanks for the seed grain itself. I learned growing up on that Colorado wheat farm to give thanks anyway.
And that lesson in itself is a reason, even in my old age, to still give thanks for even the smallest of life's favors.
This brings to mind a couple different readings I’d like to share just now. The first bears no known author’s name. It is sometimes called, simply, the “Soldier’s Prayer.” It was found in the dairy of a man who had served in the American Civil War as a soldier for the Confederate Army. Goes like this:
I asked God for strength, that I might achieve.
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly how to obey.
I asked for health, that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy.
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.
I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for – but everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.
It’s what you call giving thanks anyway. And sometimes that’s the only way we can give thanks.
Another reading I’ll share has often inspired me during what I would call “tough” times in life. This one is from the pen of Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, commonly known to us as Mother Teresa, who founded the Roman Catholic Order of Nuns known as the Missionaries of Charity. Goes like this:
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, there may be jealousy;
be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
it was never between you and them anyway.
Jesus himself is said to have labeled 9 different groups of people as “blessed” who, I suppose we could say, had just survived a tough year in life. Perhaps even tough years or even decades. They were the poor in spirit, those in mourning, the meek, those seeking to do only what is right, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted, and those who were lied about and insulted because of their association with him. (see Matthew 5:3-12)
Possibly more often than not when going through tough times in life we find ourselves blessed anyway.
Can any of us think of a better reason for giving thanks anyway?
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