Wednesday Wonder

Maybe it is a good thing we send this out electronically. Might have blown away otherwise. Cooler, gusting wind is a sure sign of fall. Leaves start blowing off the trees and swirling around us. We can feel the change in the air. While the prediction is for the temperature to rise a bit again, we know the colder weather is just around the corner.

Thanksgiving is often that defining time of year. It is when cottages and trailers are shut down for the winter and we all settle back into our primary homes. School has been going for several weeks and Thanksgiving weekend gives a break to students and adults alike.

What other things does Thanksgiving signal to you? For many of us, it is right there in the name. Giving thanks. In a world that often feels like it is spinning out of our control these days, what are we saying thanks for right now?

I looked back to last year’s Wednesday Wonder for this Wednesday before Thanksgiving to see what I was wondering about and offering you. And, of course, gratitude was at the centre of it. When the word ‘thanks’ is everywhere, thoughts of gratitude are sure to follow.

But what I have also noticed is the asking that comes with the time of year. Admittedly, it gets even worse around Christmas, but what with all the talk of gratitude, people and agencies tend to ‘put the bite on us’ now as well.

We are all feeling the squeeze of economics at the moment. I am starting to better understand what my economics professor was trying to teach me about how the world works. I am not enjoying this clearer vision.

We spend a lot of our time asking people to give, or being asked to give. It sort of goes with my position in the church. Giving, giving, giving. It can feel like it never stops. Honestly, there are days where it feels like everyone else is always taking and I am always giving. Ever feel that way?

There are a couple of biblical stories which come to mind when I am feeling this way. The first is what has come to be known as the widow’s mite. The story of the widow who puts her two copper coins into the offering at the Temple. It is said it is all she has to live on. Every time I encounter that story my first reaction is, “What is she going to do now?” Then I think of the fact that those who were supposed to be using those offerings appropriately often did not. She put in so that all could benefit, but that didn’t always happen. When there is only so much to give, we hope we are giving to those who will be good stewards of our limited resources.

The other story is the one you will hear on Sunday, should you be with us for worship. The story of the ten lepers who are healed, and only one returns to give thanks. How like us at times is what I often think. We receive and while it may not be that we take it completely for granted, we do receive without always thinking about the thanks to be given. The story reminds us to say thank you for everything and to remember where our thanks should be most directed. To the giver of all good gifts.

This year, I want to only thank you, each and every one of you for being you. You give of yourselves for this community of faith and for the wider community in which we live. You offer your time, your talents, and your treasure. They are all needed. When we each give as we can, we benefit all, just as that poor widow hoped would be the case.

Thanksgiving makes me think about what I have both given and received during the past year. It is a time to evaluate and see how I can continue to give, if I can or am willing to give more, and where I might not give as much next time. And what have I received, how have I used it, how have I shown appreciation.

God is the source of all we have. God calls us to lift up one another, to share so all will flourish. God wants the best for all of us. That means our thanks giving must inform our thanks living (you knew I would work it in again) each and every day.

May this Thanksgiving be a time for family and reflection. May the spirit of God’s generosity be in your celebrating this weekend, and in your living for the year ahead.