Some years taking time for Thanksgiving makes sense and other years its tough to see what there is to give thanks for at all. If you're in a tough spot, maybe out of a job and having trouble making ends meet its real tough to be full of praise and thanks and you might just want to scream at somebody who tells you that its time to be thankful. But in other years its real easy to know what your thankful for and what you've got in your life that matters. I've been blessed in the past week by some very insightful emails that have given me a good sense of what I and some others have to be thankful for this year.
I give thanks for life...
One email reminded me that the first thing to be thankful for, this year, is life itself. An email came on Sunday night from Kim a member of the church I served in Wisconsin. Kim plays guitar in the band every Sunday and helps out picking the music. Her 20 year old son, Matt, is in a Military Police unit deployed in Iraq. He told her, in a conversation they had through instant messenger one night last week that an IED had popped up between his Humvee and another right in line after his. It was small bomb, he said, by Baghdad standards, but it was pretty big for their section in Iraq. He said, it had been a little while since they'd seen one so close.
Matt told his mom that the bomb must have been kicked up by one of the vehicles in the line and exploded in the space between his and the next. His Battle buddy was in the next vehicle and he was grateful to see his friend again. Matt is Kim's closest family and for her this year she says she gives thanks for her life and his life and every chance that she has to know that he is alive and well.
Another email came from a member who had a cancer diagnosis and then got great results last week from tests after treatment. The family isn't saying much, they don't want people to make a big fuss, but the news was worth cheering about. So I'll give thanks for life this year.
I give thanks for the chance to laugh...
Another email, from a member who's recovering from surgery, reminded me to be thankful for the chance to laugh. Her note read...
A young man received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity. The young man tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary. Finally, he was so fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. He shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder.
In desperation, he threw up his hands, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute. Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, he quickly opened the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out onto his outstretched arms and said, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions.
I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."
He was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. He was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, when the bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"
Two more emails this week reminded me of two things: to be thankful for my blessings and to be thankful for the chance to serve.
The first email came to our office manager on Monday. It was from a couple in our church who have been blessed in their life together and are now looking for some way to share their blessings with others. They wrote that were looking for the name of some family we at the church knew of who they could help out at Christmas. I didn't have to think to hard before I gave them a name of a family who've had a real tough year.
This email reminded me that when we are blessed we have the opportunity to share our blessings. This is an ancient theme that comes from our Jewish roots and reaches out for all of us now in the 21st century. Its there in the first 5 books of the Bible; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy all carry this theme forward that God has blessed us in order that we might be a blessing to our families, our neighbors and the strangers who live right next to us.
The last email came this afternoon it reads
Friend of Camp Victor,
The following appeared in the Biloxi Sun-Herald newspaper on Tuesday, November 20, 2007. It is a letter to the editor from a grateful Gulf Coast resident. We believe it expresses the unspoken thoughts of so many people here. Happy Thanksgiving.
They came, and we are humbly thankful
When the wind died and the water receded, we were on our knees in prayer and despair — broken people with broken lives but thankful to be here still. Would we ever be able to rise again? So much work; too much work; where to begin?
Then they came out of their broken homes. Hand in hand, they came with chainsaws and trucks and chains and removed the barriers to our streets. Maybe we could, we thought, with help.
Then darkness fell again, so dark, so quiet, only questions and the sound of generators and helicopters. Sounds of life. Did anyone know of our plight? Would help come? They came.
They came by the hundreds, then the thousands. God had heard and we were thankful. They came — firefighters, military, police officers, doctors and nurses, linemen and engineers, truck drivers and preachers. They knew. They came. They all came.
The whole world came and we were thankful. They came and suffered with us. They came and lived in tents, slept on the ground, but they came and we were thankful. They clothed us and fed us. They sheltered us and tended our wounds.
They lifted our hearts and we were thankful. They came with full hearts and open hands. They sweated and cried with us, not knowing where tears ended and sweat began, and we were thankful. They lifted our spirits and helped us to our feet, and we were thankful.
They came — teachers and students and lawyers, craftsmen and laborers with strong backs and hammers and saws and brick and mortar. They came. They built our homes, our schools, our churches, our lives. Praise God, they came. They became us and we became them, as one.
With our wounds deep, our fears and memories fresh, they came. And as we heal, they come, still . . . still. With a full heart, I am thankful, we are thankful. Still. They came.
RITA DUFFUS Gulfport
Psalm 100:4 reads boldly,
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
Let us all say, AMEN.
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