This is my favorite church service of the year. Fifty people gathered to celebrate eucharist (thanksgiving). No one had to be there. It is not a feast day. It is not a Sunday. It is not a holy day. There is no obligation to come at all. You only come because you want to be there. You only show up because you just gotta say "Thanks, Father!"
As the people walked up for communion it struck me that this is the most wonderful 'Thanksgiving Day Parade.' No floats. No balloons. No marching band. No celebrities. Just believers, filing up, kneeling, extending their hands and receiving the Living Bread, the Bread of Heaven, the Food of Salvation, the Body and Blood of Christ.
What makes thanks possible? Awareness. We need to pause and ponder. Be aware. A spirit of gratitude thrives in a heart freed from a dark spirit of entitlement. It is hard to be grateful when you then think you deserve all you have and more. It is hard to realize the gift and the grace when you are making demands. I am not an amazingly thankful person. I try to be. Somedays I say the 'hundred thank yous' prayer; where you just identify everything you take for granted and tell God thank you. But even as I do it, my heart does not sore and my spirit does not sing. It is more a discipline, an effort to be thankful than a spontaneous outpouring of a man who truly knows how blessed he is.
I do not know how to be that man. I do not know how to be someone so full of gratitude. I think it is because I assume things. I have grown used to abundance and ease. Not to say I am never thankful. Just that it is not the hallmark of my life. People do not meet me and say, "Wow, that is one exhuberantly thankful guy!"
Perhaps that is part of the struggle here in the fallen world. I hop to say thank you pleases God. I am thankful that I am aware of the imortance of gratitude. I am thankful to have a day where I can practice saying thanks to God.
Thank you for reading this blog. I hope it blesses you and inspires you to thank God for something!
You doooo say some surprising things. If you want to be better at thanking, look up the Jesuit Examen. If you learn to do that once or twice (better) a day, in a little while you're more aware of your "blessings received." And if you keep at it, you (and I) can come to be aware of many blessings as they occur.
ReplyDeleteThe priest I know says this day is our only national sabbath.
Happy day of thanking.
I also love the Thanksgiving service. You're right, it's almost always a small group. It is also however, a very joyful group.
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