Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving used to be one of my favorite holidays.  It still is one of the most meaningful holidays for me, but I would be lying if I said it was my favorite.  November has been a bit of a tough emotional month for my family.  

My uncle Danny, whom I never met but am named after (in part) died the week of Thanksgiving in 1985.  My Grandpa S. passed away in November of 2006, and then my Grandpa T. passed away the following November, 2007, during the night before Thanksgiving.  Therefore, Thanksgiving has been a bit of a hard time for me.  I guess part of me is thankful though that All Saints and Thanksgiving are so close together in the calendar, because they provide countless reminders of why we are thankful. (Maybe there was some symbolic reason that I also proposed to my wife during November... its a month of being thankful for the lives that we live, the lives that we will live, and the lives that have touched us.)

We are thankful for all that we have- our time, our partners, our family, our friends, our passions and joys, our vocations, our possessions, our very selves... but most importantly, we are thankful to have life and the hope and promise of life that is found and grounded in our faith.  This year's appointed gospel reading for Thanksgiving I find very fitting.  It comes from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, and in it Jesus teaches about having trust in God and regarding life with thanksgiving rather than fear and anxiety. 

Matthew 6:25-33, NRSV

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds in the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you- you of little faith?  Therefore, do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." 

God provides.  Some times we may wonder how we will make ends meet. I know I have been wondering this lately, but I trust that there is a way. Therefore, we continue on because I know deep down that I have a purpose and a calling(s) and so do each of you.  I am thankful for this, because knowing and believing this, makes bearing in uncertainty possible, and is more than enough grounds to say a loud and boisterous "Happy Thanksgiving!"

I am thankful to all of you- friends, family, strangers, who take the time to read this blog from time to time. I hope that my reflections, has varied as they are, are enjoyable and sometimes even helpful.  

Thank you God for making this possible, for the gift of life and purpose, for the food that we shall all enjoy tomorrow, and for the love and support of so many wonderful people and a most awesome and inspiring spouse.  Thank you for the gift of life and the promise of life eternal, and thank you for your continued presence and guidance. Amen.