We had a silent prayer of thanksgiving at the end--to give thanks for all God's gifts to all of us and each of us.
So, I came home and found this Thanksgiving Sermon and thought I'd share it with you.
Give thanks. Always. Give thanks.
THANKSGIVING
SERVICE
Do not 'worry', Jesus says in
tonight's gospel. Do not 'worry' about what you should wear or eat. “Worry,” I
believe, is the opposite of 'being thankful'. That is why Jesus tells us not to
'worry', because Jesus wants us to be thankful.
In my tradition of Christianity, we
celebrate the “Eucharist” on each of the Lord's days, each Sunday and many
other times we gather as the People of God. “Eucharist” in Greek, means “to
give thanks”.
Giving thanks, it seems to me, is the
very heart of being a Christian.
The older I get, I have told people,
the fewer things I find I HAVE to 'believe'. I think I've got it down to the
basics of my creed.
*God loves me (and US)
unconditionally. Everyone, no matter how twisted, or even evil, is a child of
God. I believe that.
*Treat others as you want to be
treated. No matter what. I believe that.
*Welcome the stranger always, even if
the stranger may mean you harm. I believe that.
*Give to those in need—always and
however you can. I believe that.
*And this: be thankful always, for
everything, even things that challenge you and give you pain. Be thankful
always, for everything. I believe that.
Not that many years ago, there was the
song and the saying, “Don't worry, be happy.” I would change that
to “Don't worry, be thankful. Always.”
Consider the lilies of the
field....Consider the birds of the air....
Why should we worry? We should be
thankful.
In our Eucharist service, there is a
prayer after communion. It is a prayer of thanksgiving. But it is very general.
So often, I invite the congregation into a time of silence and ask them to give
thanks to God in their hearts and minds, for the many gifts God has given to
each of us and all of us.
In my heart and mind, in that silence,
I picture my family and my friends, the people of the congregations I serve and
have served, my dog and cat and parakeet, the freedom and prosperity of my
life, my life itself, and all the good those I know and love have done in this
dark-ling world. I sometimes give thanks for Key Lime Pie and sausage gravy and
biscuits, but the seems a little selfish.
But that's the thing—being thankful
for God's goodness isn't selfish at all. Key Lime Pie and sausage gravy and
biscuits are gifts that merit our thanks.
Remember, in my short list of beliefs,
I said to be thankful for everything, always.
It pains me, in a way, that we get so
involved in being thankful in November of each year when we should be 'thankful
to everything, always'. All the time. Every moment of life, we should be
thankful.
Don't worry, be thankful.
Consider the lilies of the field,
consider the birds of the air...they do not worry, they do not fret. And we are
worth more to God than flowers or birds.
Be thankful.
I practice the prayer of the
heart—also known as the “Jesus Prayer”.
It is a prayer of breath—and since we
breathe always, we can pray always.
The Jesus Prayer goes like this: as
you inhale, you say in your mind and heart, “Jesus Christ, Son of God” and as
you exhale you say, “have mercy on me a sinner.”
It's that simple, as simple as
breathing, which we do all the time.
But some time ago, being an
Episcopalian and not being fond of being reminded I am a sinner, I changed the
way I prayed the Jesus prayer.
I started saying, in my heart and
mind, as I inhaled, “Lord Jesus Christ” and as I exhaled “thank you so very
much”.
When I'm driving, I pray that. I give
thanks with every breath.
We should, I think, give thanks, not
just at this time of year, but with every breath.
Why don't we try it for a minute or
so? Join me in paying attention to your breathing, what keeps you alive. We
should give thanks for breath as for so many things.
Join me for a while.
When you breathe in say in your heart
and mind: “Lord Jesus Christ”. And as you exhale say in your heart and mind:
“thank you so much”.
Let's try it, if you don't mind.
Inhale: “Lord Jesus Christ”.
Exhale: “thank you so much”.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Give
thanks always. Don't 'worry', give thanks.
Amen
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