A
Reflection for Thanksgiving Day 2016 All
Saints’ Church, Southern Shores, NC November 24, 2016 Thomas E.
Wilson Rector
The
Thanksgiving Gatherings
Thanksgiving gatherings have always occupied
a soft spot in my memories. For many years it was a time for all my father’s
side of the family to get together - my Grandfather and Grandmother Wilson, my
father’s older sister, her husband and their six children and their dogs. On
Wednesday morning my mother, father, us four children, and our dog would cram
into the car for the interstate drive. We all stayed in the one house for
several days, from Wednesday afternoon to Sunday after lunch, when we left to
drive home into the west. It was a time of rejoicing and wonderful hospitality
and the best behavior with people we loved. Although I remember one evening flying
through the air while falling out of the upper bunk bed onto the floor after
some roughhousing with my older brother Paul, it was mostly a time of God’s
Peace.
Paul
- the Apostle Paul, not my brother - wrote to the Philippians to rejoice:
Finally, beloved,
whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and
if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing
the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the
God of peace will be with you.”
At
our cousins’ home, the stories were told, the photo albums pulled out, and there
were lots of “ooh” and “aahs” about how everybody had changed over the years. The
food was great, but the gathering was not about satisfying our individual or
corporate appetites, but instead, the most important part was how we were
reminded that we were all connected. When the prayers were said at every meal,
we were aware that we were part of something much, much, greater than just this
branch of the Wilson family. We were connected to our past, the future, to the
dead who were not at the table but in our memories, and to the whole of
creation. Each of us was a gift from God to each other and to the world.
The
Hebrew Testament passage for Thanksgiving is from the Book of Deuteronomy which
reminds the people of the Covenant to
use the time of the harvest to remember who they are. They remember their past
and their place in the universe with a prayer containing a basic confession of
faith told in story format: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor . . . “, and
they relate the story of the hard times wandering through the wilderness and
how God was with them every step of the way in this bountiful creation.
The
Gospel story for today is from the John’s Gospel, and it takes place after the
feeding of the 5000 in which the people gathered together to be fed in the
lonely place. The people ate all they needed, and there were 12 baskets left
from the five barley loaves and two fish. The hope that Jesus had would be that
the people would be reminded about who they were - descendants of the wandering
Aramean who still had God by their side wherever they were and that there was
no place God-forsaken in all of creation, of which they were an integral part.
The problem was that they just wanted more food, they wanted to feed their own
appetites. They refused to see themselves as part of something larger than
their own desires. Jesus tries to remind them that he and they are gifts, not
just consumers, in a universe of gifts, and that God is present right then and
there.
Today
many of us are gathering with all sorts and conditions of people to remember
that we are connected to the past and future, that we have received many gifts
and that we are ourselves gifts, not just consumers, in a universe of
gifts. And for that we give thanks, as
well as for the knowledge that God is present in all times and in all places.
It is a time to rejoice, a time to give thanks, a time to be on your best
behavior, and a time to remember who we are.
The Thanksgiving Gatherings
The
counters are sagging with weight of the meals
bringing
together those different family and friends
waiting
for stories to pause, parade coming to ends.
Latest
babies passed around making pictures real.
The
empty places speaking of conflicting agenda
and
repositioning members through the mazes
of
relationships. A religious ceremony amazes
new
friends acting as this year’s new addenda.
Folding
tables and chairs are borrowed to give
each
an awareness that all belong in this gathering
of
noisy laughs, kisses, hugs, even some blathering,
finding
a seat and voice to all coming here to live
in
this day long moments of giving God Thanks
while
regretting our yearlong posing as cranks.
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