God’s Present Constant Love
Every year, the Thanksgiving holiday invites us to pause and reflect on the many things for which we are grateful. The love of God, family, church, and friends always make my list and are likely common at many tables. This year, much of our observance will be different. Like many others, my family will have a smaller simpler gathering than is our tradition. I know of families eating over zoom or gathering on both sides of a glass door just to get to see each other. I truly missed Holy Spirit’s yearly Thanksgiving Dinner and Eucharist with our smoked turkey and everyone’s wonderful sides and deserts.
Gathering is at the heart of celebrating this holiday. As much as I love pecan pie, getting to be together is the most significant highlight… and this is what is primarily missing this year. It is a blessing that all indicators point to this being a temporary situation. That said, I ponder whether there may be something to observe in this particular moment.
We are most fully ourselves when we get to rejoice and celebrate together and this temporary holiday situation, while very difficult, points to a fundamental truth that we rarely experience in such a stark way, namely that giving thanks is most complete when we do so together. Thanksgiving this year reminds me of those months when the Bluebell factory had to close, and we all realized how much we love and missed “Homemade Vanilla” ice cream…only on a much much larger scale. We have a glimpse of the immensity of blessings we likely always knew were there but didn’t grasped as fully as we do now.
I pray we will all hear the assurance of our God that we are never alone. I pray we will take comfort that we will be together again soon. I am grateful for all of you and I am not only grateful for all that we have shared but also all that God has in store for us. I invite you to pray with me for those who have lost a loved one this year and for those who are alone. In all that we do, I pray we will know the blessing of God’s grace and the assurance that we are perpetually surrounded by God’s present constant love.
We love you and God loves you.