Like a Child
My four local grandkids ate lunch with me on Tuesday, as they usually do while their mother, Meagan, is working at the church. After I put all the fixings for tacos on the table, I encouraged everyone to wash their hands before sitting down at the table. Since Levi didn't have school this week, he joined us for lunch, too.
When I asked for a volunteer to say the prayer, two-year-old Ari waved both hands in the air while grinning from ear to ear, and shouting, "Me!" As everyone else bowed their heads, Ari folded his hands, bowed his own head, squeezed his eyes shut, and said these words, very clearly: "Thank you for this food. Amen." Then he opened his eyes and beamed at everyone gathered around the table.
This Thanksgiving is going to be very hard for many people. We are missing loved ones who usually join us for dinner. Some of us are sick with Covid, or still recovering, or concerned about friends and loved ones who are sick or even in the hospital. Some of us grieve the recent loss of people who died much sooner than we expected, often without any family present. Even if we ourselves are relatively unaffected by the Coronavirus, it can be hard to feel thankful when we have to wear masks and maintain social distancing.
This year might be a good time to get back to the basics. Like little Ari, our prayers can be short, but fervent. Like Ari, we can thank God for the abundant food he gives us each day, and especially on Thanksgiving Day. But we can also thank him for the families we love, even if we can't be with them this year. We can thank him for medical workers who have given themselves so selflessly to fight Covid. We can thank him for the researchers who have developed viable vaccines that might put an end to our current crisis. We can thank him for comfortable homes, faithful teachers, and Zoom technology that makes face-to-face meetings possible. (We will Zoom with Erin, Reed, and baby Will while we eat Thanksgiving dinner together--it's the next best thing to being there.)
God has never promised that our lives on earth would be easy. In fact, Jesus said, in John 16:33, "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” We can certainly thank our gracious God for walking with us through our hardest days, and every other day, as well, because he has promised that he will never abandon us: Be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5)
Abraham Lincoln first proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving in 1863, right in the middle of the Civil War. I'm sure that many people thought it was foolish to take a day to thank God, when the whole country was in the midst of turmoil. Once again, our country, and even the whole world, is facing a crisis unlike any we have ever experienced. It can be too easy to think that we have little reason to thank God for anything. Like me, you may have to make a conscious effort to put aside your worries and frustrations, and focus on God's blessings.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.
Psalm 136:1
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