poolebarry

Thanksgiving

By 4 cats, and a dude on November 25, 2021

I Thessalonians 5:18IN everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (KJV – you really think I would use anything else?)(emphasis mine)

Thanksgiving. As a person who grew up in a religious environment, this was always an “oldie but goodie” passage that was used during times of grief as well as the premise of nearly every Thanksgiving service I attended.

“When upon life billows you are tempest tossed.”

As is the case with most everything, understanding context is important, so let’s back up a little. For the purpose of this post, “Church” refers to Christians, because we are, in fact, the church.

I Thessalonians 5:15 – “See that none render evil for evil unto ANY man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.” Keep in mind that the writer (Paul) was speaking to the church in Thessalonica. In his epistle, he was exhorting the church to practice what he had taught them about the conduct of the church. But many volumes and many sermons have been preached on this book, so I will save that for another musing.

Back to the text, the church is never to render evil for evil, not have revenge or be vengeful, regardless of that person’s station in life. We are to follow that which is good (again, one must put this in the context of the church and teachings of Christ)

“When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost.”

I Thessalonians 5:16 – ” Rejoice evermore.” That doesn’t mean we are always happy, it means that we are to rejoice in all we have. Sometimes we have to look for it because the pressures of life may make us lose sight.

I Thessalonians 5:17 – “Pray without ceasing.” In my opinion, prayer is one of the most misunderstood religious teachings. In Matthew, Christ taught that we are not to pray like “hypocrites.” Kind of like politicians who have to put their name on every piece of toilet paper in a bathroom to make sure you know that they sponsored it, too many “leaders” like to make a show of prayer or religious prattle, probably why I have a hard time with any organized religious and/or their services, too much posing.

How does one pray without ceasing, does that mean 24/7, 365? In modern language, pray without ceasing is like, to me, working from home with music or a tv on in the background. It’s keeping that avenue open with God and pray just like you were having a conversation with someone in the room.

Some would never notice but before every game or meet I have officiated, mainly in the past 20 years, I say a little prayer and speak to my father and now my son. Non-descript, no big show, just a few words.

It is interesting how Paul tied this passage together with the exhortation to pray.

“Count your many blessings, name them one by one,”

I Thessalonians 5:18 – “IN (emphasis mine) everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”IN everything, not FOR everything.

I do a disservice to those who I love and love me if I make the statement that because Dwight Noise died two years ago, I can’t celebrate Thanksgiving. That’s a tough statement to make but in reality it’s true. I am taken by the FB questions that ask if you could go back to your teen years and do it all again, would you? It’s fun to ponder, but, it’s actually cruel to those around you. If I went back and did the Marty McFly change history, it would alter the future. Those I love now would not be part of my life, to me that is cruel.

I can grieve over Dwight Noise but to not be thankful for what I do have is a disservice to others around me. I can also be thankful for the 29 years we shared on this earthly plain. (why is it that the only time people use phrases like earthly plain is when they are being “spiritual minded?”)

That being said, I am thankful for so many things that I have. I won’t list them because the reader understands where this is heading. Yeah, life sucks sometimes and we all have things that aren’t “right” in our world, but we can always find something, house, food, family, work, Nagy getting fired, to give thanks.

Tying the entire passage together, that is Paul’s exhortation. We treat each other well, we rejoice, we pray, we give thanks!

“And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”

Life truly is simple, just like the hymn “Count Your Blessings” by Johnson Oatman. We make things complicated.

God knows that I need all of the mental health counseling I can get my hands on, I need every support group out there, friends and family. Not sure if I didn’t have some modicum of faith in God I would have survived the past two years.

See – I can give thanks for all of that!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours and thank you for attending my 7 minutes in heaven homily.