In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul writes, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
What does Thanksgiving look like in a pandemic? It will be a holiday scaled-back this year. Fewer crowded households and banquet tables overflowing with food. More loneliness and grief and lament. And, perhaps, a vague despondency about whether there is anything at all worth giving thanks for in this trying year.
Maybe reading Paul’s overly cheerful encouragements to rejoice and pray and give thanks makes you want to kick him in the shins. That’s a perfectly legitimate response to Paul, here and otherwise! We love him…but he can get on our nerves.
I’ll admit that rejoicing isn’t in my everyday emotional vocabulary right now. And if I’m praying ceaselessly, it’s mostly exasperated exclamations of “Why this?” and “Seriously, God?” and “Help me find the strength!”
But then there’s this business of giving thanks. And especially in difficult times, we need to pay extra-special attention to the preposition here. Paul says to give thanks in all circumstances. He doesn’t say give thanks for all circumstances. We don’t have to love what’s going on in the world to still find reasons for being thankful.
This, dear ones, is our key to navigating Thanksgiving (capital T) and thanksgiving (lowercase t).
Thanksgiving during a pandemic looks like finding the bright spots even in the shadows. Thanksgiving during a pandemic looks like finding the blooms in the midst of the weeds.
When Paul encourages us to give thanks in all circumstances, he gives us permission to be grateful for the bright spots and the blooms while also lamenting the shadows and the weeds. We don’t have to be grateful for the things that are difficult. And we don’t have to make sense of the the things that are making us anxious. And we don’t have to craft narratives about how our griefs are making us better people or how our trials are teaching us valuable life lessons.
Giving thanks within our circumstances means that we can be honest about the things that are painful, and we can still open our hearts with gratitude to recognize the blessings that show up around us, big and small.
We are about to enter the extended holiday season. We are about to enter the coldest season of the year. We are about to enter the time of short days and long nights. The risk of loneliness and despair is high.
So I encourage you to take Paul’s advice to heart. Perhaps not about rejoicing, though if you feel like rejoicing, THAT IS SUPER, AND YOU SHOULD DO IT WITH WILD ABANDON!
But I’m talking about this practice of gratitude - learning to open our eyes and hearts to even the most meager blessings of each day. Gratitude will be how each of us stays grounded in the hope and goodness of God, even when circumstances feel bleak. Gratitude will be the way that we remember our belovedness. Gratitude will be something to sustain us through the darkest nights.
You do not have to give thanks for the terrible things, dear ones. You merely have to stay open to the presence of God, who is still moving and acting in our world, giving us glimpses of goodness and mercy, and fussing over each and every one of us, because we are so, so loved.
Things might be rough. But God is still good. And there is still hope. And so…we give thanks.
This, dear ones, is our key to navigating Thanksgiving (capital T) and thanksgiving (lowercase t).
Thanksgiving during a pandemic looks like finding the bright spots even in the shadows. Thanksgiving during a pandemic looks like finding the blooms in the midst of the weeds.
When Paul encourages us to give thanks in all circumstances, he gives us permission to be grateful for the bright spots and the blooms while also lamenting the shadows and the weeds. We don’t have to be grateful for the things that are difficult. And we don’t have to make sense of the the things that are making us anxious. And we don’t have to craft narratives about how our griefs are making us better people or how our trials are teaching us valuable life lessons.
Giving thanks within our circumstances means that we can be honest about the things that are painful, and we can still open our hearts with gratitude to recognize the blessings that show up around us, big and small.
We are about to enter the extended holiday season. We are about to enter the coldest season of the year. We are about to enter the time of short days and long nights. The risk of loneliness and despair is high.
So I encourage you to take Paul’s advice to heart. Perhaps not about rejoicing, though if you feel like rejoicing, THAT IS SUPER, AND YOU SHOULD DO IT WITH WILD ABANDON!
But I’m talking about this practice of gratitude - learning to open our eyes and hearts to even the most meager blessings of each day. Gratitude will be how each of us stays grounded in the hope and goodness of God, even when circumstances feel bleak. Gratitude will be the way that we remember our belovedness. Gratitude will be something to sustain us through the darkest nights.
You do not have to give thanks for the terrible things, dear ones. You merely have to stay open to the presence of God, who is still moving and acting in our world, giving us glimpses of goodness and mercy, and fussing over each and every one of us, because we are so, so loved.
Things might be rough. But God is still good. And there is still hope. And so…we give thanks.
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