Tuesday greetings!
In the season of
Thanksgiving, we are all reminded of how blessed we are in our lives, but what
does it mean to be truly thankful?
What are you thankful
for? Personally, I am thankful for the Vols, good food, Ellen, Carter, Alex,
and Mac. I am thankful for my family, friends, and neighbors.
(this
section was written by Ellen C.)
As always, I think the first place you need to start when
you are trying to figure out the true meaning of something is to look at the
word itself.
The word thankfulness, as used in the New Testament of the
Bible, come from the use of two Greek words.
The first word being charizomai,
which comes from charis meaning “grace.” The second word is homologeo meaning “to confess or acknowledge.” Therefore, thankfulness is a mental and or
verbal expression of one’s acknowledgement and appreciation of God’s person,
God’s grace, blessings, and sovereign work in one’s life and the world.
That may sound a bit confusing and hard to understand but it
does bring up some very good points. The
key point being that we should be thankful.
How important is it to be thankful? Important enough that the word Eucharist or communion, the name from
which our church gets it wonderful name from, actual means The Great
Thanksgiving.
Did you know that?
Thanksgiving is a wonderful time that reminds us how
important it is to give thanks. We are
able to verbally show our gratitude to others and share how grateful we are for
all the blessings in this life.
But why do we only fully celebrate the act of giving thanks
one day out of the year?
This Sunday, as you sit in the pews, I want you to listen
during the Prayers of the People. There
is a spot where there is a pause and we asked to give thanks and add our own
petitions that we are thankful for…
This is one of those times that we are asked to speak, given
the chance to acknowledge and be thankful!
Yet, I promise you that during this time all you will hear is silence.
Why do we struggle to give thanks!
Why is it that in today’s society we find it so difficult to
acknowledge and give credit to others?
Is being independent so engrained in our culture that we lack the
capability to truly give thanks at all times?
This Thanksgiving, I propose a challenge.
Break the mold.
As you gather for your big feast on Thanksgiving Day, share
all your thanks with those around as you normally would.
But then, the day after thanksgiving…do it again.
Then again…
And again…
Imagine what type of place the world would be if we truly
gave thanks for everything all the time, everyday?
When you hear that, how many of you first think….Hmm, that
would be weird!!!
I don’t think it is.
I think it is weirder to not be thankful.
As we go through the holidays, remember how the different
people have been there for you. Remember
all of those who have helped you out or maybe even just listened when you
needed to vent.
Remember them. Not
just one day of the year. Always be
thankful!
Thanks be to God!
