A Word from Pastor Lisa: Give Thanks in All Circumstances
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NRSV)
It’s been another hard year. At the end of 2020, I thought to myself, certainly we’ve survived the roughest part of the pandemic. Little did I know how we’d continue to struggle with this virus, the divisions in our country, and the disparity in our community, not to mention our own personal losses and grief.
Last February on a bitterly cold and snowy morning, we said good-bye to our beloved Obadiah, the rescue dog who chose me six weeks before I met my husband. I’m still shocked some days that he’s not there to greet me. He loved to hike, go on vacation with us, eat melon and popcorn, and romp in the snow. He even pranced down the aisle at our wedding. Obadiah was a beloved, ornery member of our family. That afternoon to distract us from our grief, we picked up our daughter at daycare and went sledding at Switchyard park. In our sorrow, I was grateful for sunshine, shrieks of joy, and the cold snow grounding me in the beauty of God’s creation.
In the podcast Hope is My Middle Name, Brittany Comins tells the tragic story of losing her husband suddenly at age 28, just a year into their marriage. As part of her grief journey, she decided to hike the entire Appalachian Trail. At one point she reaches Charlie’s Bunyan, an incredible vista she had previously visited with her husband that she hopes will be an important place of reconnection with him. When she wakes up that morning, however, there are blizzard-like conditions. She can barely see out her tent, let alone across a vista. Even so, she traipses alone up the icy trail, and she can’t see the end of the rock. Her heart breaks. Just when she’s ready to turn around, she looks up the ridge. She can see the storm receding with edges of evergreens laced in snow. She can see the entire valley spread out below her. It dawns on her that nobody else gets to see this. Only those who have the resilience to hike through the storm may come out on the other side and experience this incredible view.
It strikes her that’s what gratitude means: Brittany doesn’t have to be grateful for things, but she can be grateful in those circumstances. Suddenly, her perspective on everything shifts. She will never be grateful that her husband passed away. But she can be grateful in all of the things that she learned as a result of her journey. Her loss motivated her to head out on the trail. Her grief gave her space to be vulnerable in public. It created a path where she could build deeper relationships with others.
As we approach Thanksgiving next week, I wonder how you are learning to give thanks in all circumstances, especially those you would never choose. How are you trudging through the storm and by the grace of God, finding yourself changed on the other side? What are you learning about yourself? How will you approach the Thanksgiving table a different person this year?