Aldersgate Experience 1
Connecting Knowing Loving Growing
WHY CAN’T EVERY DAY BE THANKSGIVING? Wouldn’t that be great? If every day we could gather around the table with our family and give thanks for the blessings in our lives? Actually, maybe that IS something we could do every day. We probably can’t take every day off from work, like most people get to do on the fourth Thursday of November, and we probably can’t watch football and parades all day, every day; but the giving thanks part… I think we could do that. And should. Recently, I preached on Gratitude Sunday. This was the culmination of our Stewardship campaign and everyone was invited to bring their Gratitude card to the altar as one way of saying “Thank You” to God for pouring out His grace on us. I realize that not everyone feels grateful every day. It is difficult to be grateful when you are sick, or a loved one is dealing with a disease, or your kids are having trouble in school, or you are having a hard time paying the bills, or you’re being asked to do more at work, or a meaningful relationship is growing tense, or the people around you are hurting. Life is often difficult, and we struggle to look around us and see where the blessings are or areas where we might be grateful.
November 2014
Experience In my sermon on Gratitude Sunday I reminded the congregation that the first Thanksgiving dates back to 1621 when the Pilgrims celebrated their first harvest in the New World with about 90 Native Americans. However, Americans have not celebrated Thanksgiving continually since that time. Thanksgiving didn’t become a national holiday until 1863. History buffs might recognize 1863 as a weird time to start celebrating Thanksgiving. That was right in the middle of the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln decided that a day for giving thanks would help begin to heal the deep wounds that divided us as a country. In the midst of our most difficult time as a nation, it was a way to make us think about what was great about this nation. Thanksgiving didn’t become a national holiday because we were remembering unprecedented success and prosperity. Thanksgiving became a national holiday to remind us in the worst of times that God has still blessed us. I’ve seen the Gratitude Challenges on Facebook, where people have been encouraged to list three things they are thankful for over a certain period of time. Let’s not make this a special occasion. There is something to be thankful for every day. I urge you to begin every day by giving thanks. Give thanks for your family, friends, home, shelter, job, health. If you are struggling in any of those areas, talk to God about it; and continue to give thanks for the others. But most importantly, give thanks for your life and for the eternal life that has been given to you through God’s grace. It is by the grace of God that we are here, and by the grace of God that we will live forever in God’s glorious heavenly kingdom. I think that’s something to be thankful for. May the Peace of Christ be with you. Pastor Doug