It is the oddest thing to be writing for an October publication in early August. A publication that will be linked to, and associated with, Harvest Festival or National Thanksgiving, when we are still fighting wildfires all over the province.
It has been a difficult season for many of us in the Diocese of Kootenay. So many wildfires, so many homes lost, so many people displaced. So much wildlife lost, so much forest lost. One’s health is affected with the smoke and particulate in the air we breathe.
How to be thankful, how to focus on all that is good, how to remember that there are things to be thankful for while living with these disasters?
As Christians, we are reminded that we have hope. Hope for the sunshine tomorrow! Hope — a feeling of expectation, a looking forward to better days. Hope — can be a belief, an assurance, confidence. a promise!
Hope, in itself, is something to be thankful for.
We pray in confidence, we pray boldly, assured that our prayers are heard and will be answered. God has promised that it is so. We can pray with an optimistic mindset, knowing that God’s will, as our Creator, our Abba, our Nurturing Mother, will give us all that we need.
I have learned that many of our wildfires started this year are human caused. Arson, or neglect or ignorance – but human caused. So, do we hope that people will learn to do better? Do we ask God to teach people respect? Or do we pray for forgiveness. Have we not taught people to respect nature, to respect our neighbours, to respect fire and the damage it can do? Are we part of the problem?
How to find a balance — do I offer thanksgivings that my house wasn’t burned this year? Will I be thankful that my eyes can still see green trees and a small herd of deer? That I am one of the lucky ones?
In a world that is on fire, where do we find thanksgiving in our hearts?
We are told to be thankful: In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. \
(Philippians 4. 6) Part of the five fingers of prayer that I was taught in Sunday School: Thanksgiving a part of every prayer.
I think our perspective shifts when we bring to God our worries and cares, our fears and our hopes though the lens of thanksgiving; looking at the many ways we have been blessed.
Psalm 100
1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his[a];
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
So, this year at my thanksgiving table, I will be thankful for much. For the presence of family members, for the gift of friends, for the seasons as they come and go, for the feast that will be on the table, for the joy found in church companionship, and especially for the presence of God in my life. It is more than enough.
