Bacon wrapped turkey in the oven. . . check. . . . .
Side dishes ready to be cooked for dinner at 3. . . . . check. . . .
Large department store parade in major metropolitan city on TV. . . check. . . .
20 minutes to get some ideas down about one of my favorite of all holidays. . . . . che. . . ok, maybe 10. . . .
Of course, the tradition of the Thanksgiving holiday has a bit more of a checkered past than what I was taught in grade school back in Greenville South Carolina, with its Happy Pilgrims shaking hands and welcoming their Native American friends to the greatest meal in American history. A google search of some of the more reliable sites will leave you still unsure of many of the details of the history. However, what we can be sure of is that the idea of a feast, the purpose of which is to give thanks for a harvest and other blessings has been a part of American tradition on and off for most of its history. I would love to get into more of the details, like the story of Miles Standish beheading a Pequot Indian man, slaying his family and posting his head at the gate of the Pilgrim Settlement, then holding a Thanksgiving feast the following week. How about the idea that the current tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November is largely the result of trying to help stimulate Christmas shopping by allowing more shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas? Almost makes Black Friday starting on Thursday evening ok right?
Regardless of the facts of its history, Thanksgiving still remains a time when many American at least attempt to reflect on those things they are most thankful for. Even during the iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, Al Roker asks each celebrity attending to promote their latest project, what they are most thankful for. Their answers are typical of most of us, healthy family, my supportive friends, my agent, etc etc. Many families will go around their tables with each person, in turn, declaring the thing they thought of frantically in the bathroom before the meal knowing the spotlight would shine on them at some point. There are so many things to throw out there for so many of us. But not for all of us. . . . .
This week I was reminded that the holidays are not always filled with joy and gratitude even here in America, the modern Promised Land. One of my students, a quiet, sweet eighth grader, lost his mother to cancer just yesterday morning. I am actually fighting tears back thinking about how his history has been dramatically changed now with this tragedy. Last year, we visited my younger brother for Thanksgiving weekend. On our way to his house from the hotel, we were re-routed through the bustling city of Lancaster as the road we would normally take was blocked off with Police Tape. Police cars were parked everywhere announcing their presence with brightly colored lights dancing against the row houses in an ominous display that did not boast of happy holidays. A young man had been shot to death that morning, his family left to sort out the “why”s and work through the holiday season in what had to feel like the darkest of futures.
Stories like this, the realities of people who do not have healthy families, who are struggling financially, who have endured tragedy. . . people who have chaos in their lives and confusion in their hearts are more common than many choose to accept, so what should they be thankful for? At least here in American, our understanding of what a blessing is, has become shaped and molded to the American dream in such a way that too often counting our blessings turns into an account of how good our lives are compared to others. My sister and brother in law recently had their second child. The first had died in childbirth due to a neural tube defect. The second’s heart rate dropped to almost undetectable levels and had to be removed via C-section 4 weeks early. I guess it was touch and go, but everyone is happy and healthy. I caught myself talking to my wife about it and saying, “think about how blessed we were, three pregnancies, no problems, no scares, just three healthy boys.” What are we really saying when we word things this way? Aren’t we saying God has blessed us but not them? Life without struggle is blessing, life with struggle is not.
To avoid this we say things like, “all things happen for a reason”, trying to make sense of why I might be blessed and you might struggle, but do they? Isn’t that a problem too? Has God actually written out every event in each life like an author telling a story? Is every breath of wind written into the play by the Author? If so, what do we do with the idea of choice? Did God put it in the heart of whoever shot that boy that they should take a life on Thanksgiving morning? Isn’t it possible that God created a world with certain systems in place, certain scientific laws that direct the day to day movements? Did He not give Mankind the ability to choose? We do not like this idea of course because that means that one person can choose to alter the direction of another person’s life without first consulting the Author. . . that is uncomfortable to say the least. I don’t really want to get into a whole big discussion on predestination and how all of this sorts out, maybe another time as I do need to go attend to my bird. . . but it is important especially for those who may be having difficulty finding something to be thankful for, not just today, but maybe this year, or this decade.
I should say that I am not suggesting that God has created the visible world and sits back and watches as one would an aquarium of some sort. I do believe God has plans big and small based on his foreknowledge and that the Bible states multiple times that God hardens the hearts of some and softens those of others to aid in the accomplishment of those plans. But the Bible also is full of spans of times, hundreds of years where it seems life is just happening.
In evolutionary biology, there is an idea called “punctuated equilibrium”. The idea is that there are long spans of time called stasis, where an organism remains relatively unchanged and then, due to some evolutionary event, there is rapid change. Is it possible that God works along these lines, in a sort of “punctuated direction” allowing man to make his choices and stepping in to guide things along when needed?
So what are we left with if sometimes life just happens? How can I say to my student, “hey little guy, sorry your Mom died a horrible slow death, but everything happens for a reason, a purpose”? Is it not possible, that while maybe everything doesn’t always
happen for a purpose, that we can find purpose in those things? Although not everything happens for a reason, we can find reason through them going forward, and in that, there is a blessing, something to be thankful for. . .
I am fond of pointing out to people when we try to define exactly how the Eternal God operates, that we are broken finite creatures with limited understanding. As much as we hate to admit it, we may not be able to fully understand how an infinite God, living outside of time interacts with His creation. Did he just wind up the clock and now simply sit back and watches it self-destruct? Or, has he written every event into the story that unfolds with purpose and meaning hidden like easter eggs in a Disney movie? Maybe it is in between. Maybe in His foreknowledge of the decisions man would make, before the creation was birthed, He had plans set outside of time. . . .
Paul tells us in the book of Romans that all that we can understand of God is revealed in the creation. If so, maybe we can get a hint at an answer. Galileo is quoted as saying,
“The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.”
Is it possible, that maybe, just maybe, this is the same with God? That the Great God of the Universe, with all of Creation held together by Him, can still take notice of an individual, of one eighth grade boy who lost his mother, of a family whose brother and son was gunned down because of Another’s choice? The One True Living God radiates life to all of this vast massive universe and still takes notice to ripen us whether we have more or less, heartache or celebration, struggle or not.
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is that of Hagar, Sarai’s slave in Genesis 16. When Sarai couldn’t give Abraham a baby, she sent Hagar in to do the deed. When she got pregnant and gave birth, Sarai became jealous and tormented her to the point where Hagar and her son ran away. She was now homeless and pregnant, with little to be thankful for. God sent His angel to meet with her, and encourage her to go back, revealing how he would use this situation. Hagar’s response I believe sums it up the best:
She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Genesis 16:13
How often have I wondered, like the Psalmist, King David, “who is man that you are mindful of him. . . ?” (Psalm 8). How ridiculous is it for us to think that a God so big that the very universe exists and expands within Him could pay any attention to the pain and suffering, the prayers and heartache of an insignificant bunch of grapes on a tiny speck of a planet in a hidden corner of his creation. Yet He does. . . with all that is, every planet, every nebula, every galaxy held together by His power, He still sees us and desires to ripen us, to shape us, to give us life, as though He had nothing better to do.
For this I am most thankful. . . .
The Drum Speaks 
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