Scriptural Basis
Luke 17:11-19 (NRSV)
Blog Reflection
I am thankful today for many of the advancements of our modern day. It is because of the technological achievements in the last 20 years that I can write this blog. The advances in the understanding of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities/expressions have brought us to seven States in the US that have legalized marriage equality. Don't Ask, Don't Tell has been repealed this year.
If there is one place where I remain rather traditional is in the area of worship and the seasons. I do not like the stores putting up Christmas items for sale as early as mid-October. The local lite rock station begins playing Christmas music 24/7 the third week of November. The Hallmark Channel has already been showing Christmas films. At 10:00pm tonight Wal-mart will begin their Black Friday sales. The commercials have been pushing the best gift ideas etc.
My issue with all of that is that it does not allow us the space and season to prepare and celebrate Thanksgiving. And the beautiful Season of Advent gets butchered by all of the rush of Christmas retail sales.
The Gospel for Thanksgiving Day is a great reminder to us about God's goodness. The readings for Thanksgiving Day including Deuteronomy 8: 7-18 and 2 Corinthians 9: 6-15 reminds us that everything from the land we live on and the good food that we eat are all gifts of God given should not be taken for granted. Yet, we all take advantage of what is in front of us. Not only do we take it for granted, we can become selfish and try to hoard as much as we can for ourselves.
We need to call to mind on this Thanksgiving Day that while we celebrate the opportunity to be grateful for our land and food we eat came to us at the expense of the Native Americans, whom the white Christians oppressed and suppressed. As Americans we have much to repent of as well as be thankful for.
This Thanksgiving as with any day of the year, we are urged to remember that there are people close to us who are not as fortunate as we are. In our own neighborhoods there are elderly people who are lonely. There are people who are sick and in need of help. Around us are individuals who have been separated from their families for various reasons. People who only wish for half of what we take for granted, just to survive another day with some hope.
Giving thanks to God means more than having some gratitude for all God does. Giving thanks means a change of heart and a life lived with gratitude, by willing to give of ourselves for the benefit of others who are different from us. The one healed leper who returned to give thanks recognized that his life had been touched by God and wanted to praise God in the One who healed him. The healed individual gave an example for all of us to imitate. Our gratitude to God and each other has the power to help people sit up and take notice. Or allows God to teach us something new and different.
This Thanksgiving there are many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people who cannot be reunited with their families. There are couples like Donald & Arthur who having pledged their love to each other face the possibility of being split up because Arthur is an immigrant who may be deported. There are individuals who live with HIV/AIDS who live alone and without someone to love them just because they have HIV/AIDS.
God invites us to give thanks by being open to God's call to all of us to recognize God's presence in all people. Those who succeed in life. Those who fail and wonder how to make it through another day. God is present and speaking to us through people, events and opportunities where God is least likely to be found. God seeks our good when someone who has never set foot in a church of any kind talks and behaves more like a Christian than any missionary we could meet.
As we continue throughout this Thanksgiving weekend until the First Sunday of Advent, let us stop and take time to be thankful to God. May we also take time to show a sense of gratitude for all God does for us, by sharing all that we have with those who are less fortunate than ourselves. May we reach across our sometimes biased hearts and begin to recognize the Holy Spirit's presence and grace in those who are marginalized by society and the Church to build relationships that lead to reconciliation.
May our attitudes be like the Lila Montagne played by Jaqueline Bisset in the movie Latter Days. At the end of the movie, Lila, Aaron, Christian and all the characters are gathered around a Thanksgiving table. Lila lifts a class for a prayer and a toast that "Where ever you are in this world, whether success or failure, you will always have a place at my table."
Prayers
Luke 17:11-19 (NRSV)
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."
Blog Reflection
I am thankful today for many of the advancements of our modern day. It is because of the technological achievements in the last 20 years that I can write this blog. The advances in the understanding of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities/expressions have brought us to seven States in the US that have legalized marriage equality. Don't Ask, Don't Tell has been repealed this year.
If there is one place where I remain rather traditional is in the area of worship and the seasons. I do not like the stores putting up Christmas items for sale as early as mid-October. The local lite rock station begins playing Christmas music 24/7 the third week of November. The Hallmark Channel has already been showing Christmas films. At 10:00pm tonight Wal-mart will begin their Black Friday sales. The commercials have been pushing the best gift ideas etc.
My issue with all of that is that it does not allow us the space and season to prepare and celebrate Thanksgiving. And the beautiful Season of Advent gets butchered by all of the rush of Christmas retail sales.
The Gospel for Thanksgiving Day is a great reminder to us about God's goodness. The readings for Thanksgiving Day including Deuteronomy 8: 7-18 and 2 Corinthians 9: 6-15 reminds us that everything from the land we live on and the good food that we eat are all gifts of God given should not be taken for granted. Yet, we all take advantage of what is in front of us. Not only do we take it for granted, we can become selfish and try to hoard as much as we can for ourselves.
We need to call to mind on this Thanksgiving Day that while we celebrate the opportunity to be grateful for our land and food we eat came to us at the expense of the Native Americans, whom the white Christians oppressed and suppressed. As Americans we have much to repent of as well as be thankful for.
This Thanksgiving as with any day of the year, we are urged to remember that there are people close to us who are not as fortunate as we are. In our own neighborhoods there are elderly people who are lonely. There are people who are sick and in need of help. Around us are individuals who have been separated from their families for various reasons. People who only wish for half of what we take for granted, just to survive another day with some hope.
Giving thanks to God means more than having some gratitude for all God does. Giving thanks means a change of heart and a life lived with gratitude, by willing to give of ourselves for the benefit of others who are different from us. The one healed leper who returned to give thanks recognized that his life had been touched by God and wanted to praise God in the One who healed him. The healed individual gave an example for all of us to imitate. Our gratitude to God and each other has the power to help people sit up and take notice. Or allows God to teach us something new and different.
This Thanksgiving there are many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people who cannot be reunited with their families. There are couples like Donald & Arthur who having pledged their love to each other face the possibility of being split up because Arthur is an immigrant who may be deported. There are individuals who live with HIV/AIDS who live alone and without someone to love them just because they have HIV/AIDS.
God invites us to give thanks by being open to God's call to all of us to recognize God's presence in all people. Those who succeed in life. Those who fail and wonder how to make it through another day. God is present and speaking to us through people, events and opportunities where God is least likely to be found. God seeks our good when someone who has never set foot in a church of any kind talks and behaves more like a Christian than any missionary we could meet.
As we continue throughout this Thanksgiving weekend until the First Sunday of Advent, let us stop and take time to be thankful to God. May we also take time to show a sense of gratitude for all God does for us, by sharing all that we have with those who are less fortunate than ourselves. May we reach across our sometimes biased hearts and begin to recognize the Holy Spirit's presence and grace in those who are marginalized by society and the Church to build relationships that lead to reconciliation.
May our attitudes be like the Lila Montagne played by Jaqueline Bisset in the movie Latter Days. At the end of the movie, Lila, Aaron, Christian and all the characters are gathered around a Thanksgiving table. Lila lifts a class for a prayer and a toast that "Where ever you are in this world, whether success or failure, you will always have a place at my table."
Prayers
Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 246).
Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen. (General Thanksgiving, Book of Common Prayer, page 101)
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