Thanksgiving

It’s the day before Thanksgiving. This would normally be the time when I might wax eloquent (wax???) on being thankful for the blessings of life, but I don’t think I’ll do that today. Not because I’m not grateful or thankful. Not because I have no blessings. Not because I’m selfish. Rather, I’d like to think that I have an attitude of thanksgiving, more or less, throughout the year. I would hope that I’m not limiting my praise and thanks to family, friends, and God to this one day or time of year.
Instead of my doing something on Thanksgiving, I’d like to borrow a few lines from a lady by the name of Gail Musolf, who is the director of the Friendly Center, a senior citizens organization, and a deaconess in the Lutheran Church. I haven’t asked her if I can use these, but hope she doesn’t mind.
She uses the passage from I Thessalonians 5:16-18 as a text. In it, Paul writes, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Ms. Musolf then writes, “I do not think that God intends for us to be thankful for pain and suffering, for sin and evil, or for our inhumanity to each other. But I do believe that this passage is the blueprint for an attitude. Note the emphasis on constancy - 'Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.' "
She continues, “We can nurture the attitude of thanksgiving precisely because 'it is the will of God in Christ Jesus.' Jesus' suffering and death have brought us back into a right relationship with God, and it is in and for that relationship that we are able to foster thankfulness as an attitude, a way of being, a part of who we are.” (http://www.valpo.edu/lda/devotions/november.html)
Think on those words this week as you down the turkey and ham, and watch the KU/Missouri shootout on Saturday. Then go away from this week (regardless of the outcome of the game) with a renewed sense of joy and and thanksgiving.