PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

November 29, 2020

THANKSGIVING 2020

With the coronavirus spiking many families are not celebrating Thanksgiving together this year.  Very likely this trend will continue at Christmas.  This is true for many people that Diane and I know.  After much thought, we finally decided to cancel our dinner with our son and his family.  This does not mean that we will not be in touch, just not in person.  For many years at the holidays we have had facetime with our son and his family who live in Virginia.

Especially hard hit by the coronavirus restrictions are persons living in nursing homes, retirement homes or care facilities and those in the hospital.  Most of these facilities have limited or no visitor policies.  In many cases this makes it impossible for family members to be a with loved one when they are very ill or pass away.

As one reflects on this year with the coronavirus, political discord and social unrest how should one approach Thanksgiving 2020.  This is not the first Thanksgiving to be celebrated during difficult times.  The first Thanksgiving in 1621 come following a winter in which half of the Pilgrims perished and the ones who survived found themselves adjusting to a setting that was much different than the one they had left behind in England.  Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving day in the midst of the Civil War.

When I think of giving thanks during difficult times, I am reminded of the story that Corrie ten Boom tells in her book The Hiding Place.  The setting is a Nazi concentration camp.  Even under these austere circumstances, she is able to maintain her daily Bible reading.  One day the reading comes from I Thessalonians 5:16-19.  “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  Do not quench the Spirit.”

Even though it seemed counterintuitive she decided to put into practice what she had just read.  One of the aspects of the barracks where she lived that caused the residents discomfort were the fleas.  Therefore, she offered a prayer of thanksgiving for the fleas.  Later she learned that guards did not like the fleas either and therefore they stayed away from her barracks which allowed those living there to have the freedom to gather for worship and Bible study.  In a strange way, there was reason to rejoice and give thanks for the pesky fleas.

Paul’s words in I Thessalonians might be good advice for all of us as we come to Thanksgiving 2020.  The Pilgrims, Abraham Lincoln and Corrie ten Boom found reason to rejoice and give thanks under very difficult circumstances.  We can not say with any certainty about Abraham Lincoln, but it is very likely that the Pilgrims and Corrie ten Boom prayed without ceasing.  As a result they allowed God’s Spirit to flow through them to meet the challenges that circumstances presented.

This Thanksgiving we have a choice.  We can focus on all the problems and difficulty or we can focus on the many things for which we have reason to rejoice and give thanks.  On the one hand I will miss being with family this Thanksgiving.  On the other hand I am thankful and rejoice that there are other ways that I can be in touch, especially now I have my own mobile phone – have to figure out this facetime bit.  I can focus on what I do not have or on the other hand I can focus on all the blessings I do have.

How will you choose this Thanksgiving?  Will you focus on your problems or on your blessings?