A Thanksgiving Challenge

Thanksgiving for many of us means a table laden with steaming hot, delicious food, encircled by a beaming family content to be together. We give thanks for needs met, and the abundance of blessings that fill our lives. Even as we celebrate, we are aware that we are the privileged. For us, giving thanks is easy, particularly in this land of milk and honey that we call Canada.

This year, I offer you another reason to be thankful. This blessing is available to everyone, rich and poor, young and old, regardless of ethnicity, skin color, health. What is this blessing?

We can give thanks to God for the privilege of caring for others. There is so much need in this world. Lonely people need a phone call or visit. Homeless people seek shelter and respect. Teens desperately seek a kind word. Overworked store clerks need the blessing of your smile and your thanks. Don’t forget to give thanks for the opportunity to volunteer. Instead of lamenting the endless hours you spend sitting at church meetings or planning activities for the Legion, give God thanks. This is your calling. No one is excused. Regardless of your age, your illness, your exhaustion, you can always pray, be compassionate and loving. Be grateful that God has called you to care.

This Thanksgiving, I challenge you to let go of the insistence that we only give gratitude for what we receive. Give thanks to God for all the moments of giving you have enjoyed, all the prayers you’ve offered, donations you’ve made, time you’ve volunteered over the past year. Loving and caring for others is such a blessing. When we learn to give thanks for what we give, we become free to say, “Thank you God that I am alive.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. (1 John 3:16)

Today’s Faith by Rev. Janet Stobie

 

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