Thanksgiving Thoughts

A lost sheep nuzzles into the grass-stained shoulder of a shepherd who’s gone searching for her.

An old woman throws a party to celebrate finding the coin that went missing.

A daddy streaks across a field to welcome home a son returned from wanderlust.

There is joy! There is gratitude! There is reconciliation! In these simple stories, Jesus paints a picture of God’s extravagant love. The most significant being in existence loves us, pursues us, welcomes us, and parents us. Thanks be to God!

Still, we struggle to make sense of all this magnanimity.

The cynic wonders why a shepherd would waste all that time on just one and not ninety-nine.

The banker questions the fiscal responsibility of splurging on a party.

The jealous older brother asks, “Don’t you see me, too?”

The systems of this world try to tell us that our gratitude must be tempered by efficiency and logic, or even discarded by our jealousy and self-interest. And besides, it’s too much effort to cook a turkey!

Please know that thanksgiving is NOT an idle pursuit. Please also know that it’s a verb!

When we are intentional about noticing AND expressing our gratitude, we are much more likely to receive the subtle and not-so-subtle gifts around us. We are much more likely to share and receive the love of God around us. We are much more likely to be aware of the sources that sustain us. We are much more open to transformative change.

What daddy wouldn’t trade a thousand fortunes for the chance to tell his little boy, “You’re found!” What beauty there is in a connection where voice and touch can still the stormy seas! What shepherd would be so foolish as to dismiss the value of that love? What neighbor could not see the timeless value of joy and fellowship shared with an entire neighborhood?

When we notice the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, we reconnect to what grounds us. And there can be power in that gratitude!

It is election season. What might it mean to vote with gratitude? How might your generosity give new possibilities to your neighbors? And how might your demand for efficiency and self-perseverance eliminate them? Is the world big enough for your neighbor’s joy and wellbeing, too?

It’s a season of remembrance. Another year of saints to name. There is grief. As we mourn what has been lost, can we also carve out space for what might still be? Can our lives be an expression of gratitude for those whose gratitude has shaped us?

It’s budget season. We are grateful, but are we also faithful? Will the generous gifts we receive become vessels of shared generosity? Or will they simply keep us safe and secure?

The kingdom of heaven is like a congregation who practiced thanksgiving. May it be so!