The Thanksgiving Cure

Last Sunday I challenged the congregation to make this week, Thanksgiving Week, by writing down each day one specific thing for which they are grateful.  Not just a general concept like family or friends, but a specific, concrete experience from that day, such as the laughter of your child when you tickled her or the small display of affection you shared with your spouse or the delicious chocolate chip cookie you enjoyed.

I based my thoughts partly on Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are.

Just like you, Ann Voskamp hungers to live her one life well. Forget the bucket lists that have us escaping our everyday lives for exotic experiences. “How,” Ann wondered, “do we find joy in the midst of deadlines, debt, drama, and daily duties? What does the Christ-life really look like when your days are gritty, long—and sometimes even dark? How is God even here?”

In One Thousand Gifts, Ann invites you to embrace everyday blessings and embark on the transformative spiritual discipline of chronicling God's gifts. It’s only in this expressing of gratitude for the life we already have, we discover the life we've always wanted … a life we can take, give thanks for, and break for others. We come to feel and know the impossible right down in our bones: we are wildly loved — by God.

Ann goes on to describe how we often live a Waiting Room Life in which we are always waiting for the next Big Thing to happen, counting down the days until we can live the life we desire or expect.   Meanwhile, God is active all around us and we are not willing or awake to see God's daily activity in our life.  Ann's cure for the Waiting Room Life is to embrace thanksgiving, to practice gratitude everyday.  Here is a short video that captures some of the joy of practicing gratitude.

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As I write this blog post, I am grateful for the laughter I shared this morning with our staff.  Sue and Sarah and Hannah often help me see the humorous side of life, especially my own.  This morning Sue asked me if I was willing to write the blog post for this week.  I first said grudgingly, "Of course," thinking to myself "My turn again?"  She then observed that it could be on Thanksgiving. I thought, "how ironic that I feel unenthusiastic to write about Thanksgiving, when I challenged the congregation to be thankful all week." When I saw my ungrateful behavior, I laughed, knowing that I still need plenty of practice in developing a grateful attitude. Thus I am thankful that Sue made me laugh at myself.

For what are you thankful today?

Pastor John Keller