Wednesday Wonder – October 4, 2023

Thanksgiving. This week that is likely the one thing on everyone’s mind. Depending upon your stage of life you may be thinking about the menu for the big family dinner, the fact that you don’t have to go to work or school on Monday, or about the travel plans that will bring you to family or them to you. Whatever may be happening, it is the idea of giving thanks and gathering with loved ones that is usually part of this season.

The exceptional weather we have had of late has kept us in a summer state of mind it seems, as we keep putting on our shorts and t-shirts to beat the heat. But the trees have been putting on their fall clothes. The colours have begun to appear as these warm days have been followed by cooler nights.

The fall colours always make me nostalgic. I grew up in the Ottawa Valley and we are one of the places people go to tour the fall colours. Thanksgiving also brings up memories of gathering with family at my grandparents’ cottage. In the family it was known as The Cabin House. Started as a log cabin built by my grandfather after the war which grew and expanded over the years. A trip from our house to The Cabin House had us enjoying the fall colours for a couple of hours.

There is one Thanksgiving in particular that I keep returning to in my mind. That year all of my maternal aunts, uncles and cousins had gathered. We all found places to sleep around the cottage and in the evenings the big stone fireplace that was central to the main living space was sharing its heat. The extended table was set and a feast was enjoyed by all.

After supper, the cousins began to get a little silly, as was our usual. For some reason, this year, we started a paper airplane contest. This quickly devolved into firing said paper planes at one another. Being paper planes, they usually did not go where we planned. They were getting stuck in the rafters, landing under furniture, even flying into bedrooms, and at one point, right out the window that someone had opened. It was great fun and the cousins were laughing and loud and feeling the love of gathered family.

But, what really stands out from that particular Thanksgiving is the fact that for the next couple of years, at random times we would find a paper airplane. It might have fallen from its spot in the rafters, or a piece of furniture was moved or swept under. Each time we found another plane there was laughter and ‘remember when’ shared. For me, it kept bringing Thanksgiving alive again.

I think what happened that year informed my thinking as I grew older. While I still celebrate Thanksgiving as the holiday comes up on the calendar, I try to do Thanks Living everyday. I have a gratitude journal in which I write each day. I try to name at least a couple things every day for which I am thankful. This stared when the first paper airplane was found the summer following the ‘Thanksgiving of the Great Airplane War.’ Thoughts of how lucky we were to be able to be together, of the bonds of not just family, but friendship with my cousins, bonds that in some cases are just as strong today.

Thanks Living. As those who follow the teachings of Jesus, we have every reason to be thankful all the time. It is our living a life of thanksgiving that shows others what a gift we have been given. A gift of unconditional love, of abundant life, of the chance to share in the spreading of the Good News of God’s love.

As we celebrate this season, as family, however that looks, or on our own let us extend this season’s focus from living out our thanks for a day, to living a life of Thanks Living every day. Happy Thanksgiving!

Peace,
Rev. Mary-Jane