Sermon

St. Mary Nanoose Bay

October 11, 2020

Thanksgiving    

My sister who lives in Oakland, California told me this story on the phone this week. Against a backdrop of record high temperatures, an uncontrolled rise of Covid-19, wildfire smoke moving in and out of the Bay area and violence and demonstrations, she greeted her neighbour across the fence, “How are you doing?” The woman stopped in her tracks, looked about, moved her feet in a circle, took a deep breath, and after two long minutes, turned to my sister and said, “Right now, in this moment, I am fine. Thanks for asking.” As they talked more, my sister learned that this woman had been living in a state of high anxiety for months, and was learning how to ground herself in the moment, checking in with herself, allowing emotion to rise up and then through her instead of tightening up around it and making tension her constant companion.

How can we be thankful when we are in the grip of anxiety? How can we be thankful when the world seems to be falling apart around us?

I’ve told you before about my great aunt who lived under the brutal Japanese occupation of Indonesia during WWII. Reading her journal from that time, you would never know how she suffered. Her entries talk about the little patch of garden she nurtured in front of her hut in the prison camp. She reflects on conversations she has with her fellow prisoners and records acts and words of kindness. She reflects on her relationships, her love of family. She disciplined her thoughts, she practiced gratitude and I can only imagine that she was a positive influence and uplifting presence to those around her.

Practicing gratitude, in the moment, breaks through the obsessive circling thoughts in our mind creating the space to realize how God continually is gifting, loving and supporting us. Expressing gratitude necessitates that we acknowledge we are in relationship, always, with the One who is in control; who knows all, sees all, and who holds the future.

Gratitude opens us up to that peace that we heard about in the reading today from Paul’s letter to the Philippians – the peace that is available to us regardless of what is going on our lives.

Being grateful takes practice, and it is a practice that helps us develop the eyes and ears to perceive the world, the kingdom of God, that Jesus speaks about, here on earth - the kingdom that arises when we don’t judge the people or events in our lives; when we accept life as it comes to us; with all its struggles, losses, joys and challenges.

Through acceptance we come to see that God’s will is indeed health and wholeness, and that everything in our lives can be transformed for good. God can, and with our cooperation, will compost our losses and failures into new life. It’s only when we wake up to the present moment that we can notice the gift that is our life.

Gratitude is not platitude. It’s not a rote way of being polite. It’s an integral part of the Divine Exchange…. it feeds, supports and enrichs life because gratitude always redirects our attention to the One who creates everything and creates all possibility – God. A thankful heart bonds us with God and with life, deepening our appreciation and our commitment to the relationship.

I think of my friend Joel who, having achieved sobriety after 40 years, invited me to attend the AA meeting where he would celebrate his 3rd birthday. This is the annual celebration of the day the person stopped drinking. So for Joel, it meant that 3 years prior, he had taken his last drink. The birthday was part of the regular AA meeting. It was an interesting experience for me. Everyone welcomed me. After the regular part of the meeting was concluded, the birthday cake came out. Joel blew out the candles and then began to speak. He shared many things but the one thing I particularly remember was when he became emotional, took the time to look around the circle at each person present, and said, “I know it sounds weird, but I give thanks that my years of addiction brought me to this place, to this wonderful group of people, for my sponsor, for my new friends. I can’t imagine life without you.”

This is the kind of gratitude we can develop. This is the new life we are called to. Where we offer up to God all our experiences to be transformed, where we trust that our hearts can, and will be changed. Where we know that we can’t know how the Spirit will move in and through us but we trust. It’s all mystery. And thank God for mystery. Without it we are doomed to our cynical and desperate view of life.

I’m grateful for the people in my life who embrace their challenges, who have risen above shame, who are authentic and who have integrity, who don’t pretend to be better than, or other than, they are. I know that their wisdom often comes from the school of hard knocks. And I celebrate how they have been called into freedom and accepted that invitation. I give thanks for those in my life who have been humble enough to ask for, and give, forgiveness. These people inspire and encourage me; I need them!

Later today I will drop off a Thanksgiving dinner to a friend who was born late in her parents’ marriage when her mother was drinking daily and drinking hard. She was born with FAS, fetal alcohol syndrome, a condition she can never overcome. As she was reminded constantly throughout her childhood, she was “an unwanted accident.”

And yet, this friend inspires me and others who know her with her determination, her strong faith, her concern for others. Yes, she struggles, not the least with others’ reactions and judgments of her, but for the most she rises above it all because of her faith in God, her experience of Jesus’ presence and love, and her open attitude to others.

As Christians, we have so much to be grateful for: the word and sacrament that feed us and help us mature. We are fortunate to live and worship in a community in which we get to work on living out the gospel message. And probably mostly, we get to claim this peace that passes all understanding, because we know we have never been, are not, and never will be alone. We are held and led in love to a future where all will be well.

So let’s expand this idea of Thanksgiving being one day of the year. Can we not take time every day to give thanks for this gift of faith which is ours? Ours to have and ours to share. Thanks be to God.

Amen.