Thanksgiving - Recognizing the BETTER, Because of the WORST

“As they left, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw that he had been healed, returned and praised God with a loud voice. He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.”  (Luke 17:14-16)

 There are a lot of things that – before now – we have taken for granted as individuals and as a culture.  But all that we’ve experienced this year has hopefully also invited and encouraged us to recognize and be thankful for the “little” things of life (that really aren’t so little), and to recognize God’s presence in these things.

Back in March of this year, Roman Catholic author and speaker Laura Kelly Fanucci penned the following that (pardon the metaphor) went “viral” on social media without ever mentioning the source of our problems:

“When this is over, may we never again take for granted

A handshake with a stranger

Full shelves at the store

Conversations with neighbors

A crowded theater

Friday night out

The taste of communion

A routine checkup

The school rush each morning

Coffee with a friend

The stadium roaring

Each deep breath

A boring Tuesday

Life itself.

When this ends

may we find

that we have become

more like the people

we wanted to be

we were called to be

we hoped to be

and may we stay

that way — better

for each other

because of the worst."

--From Laura Kelly Fanucci’s March 2020 Blog HERE

May we never take for granted the simple things of life, even when our world and our way of living feels threatened by life itself.  Instead, let’s consciously choose to “return and praise God with a loud voice,” and then to live out our thankfulness by the way we live our lives! Happy Thanksgiving!  Remember, God loves you and I do, too!

I Sing A Song of the Saints of God...

“To the church of God that is in... [Gwinnett County], to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints...” (1 Corinthians 1:2)

“I sing a song of the saints of God,
patient and brave and true,
Who toiled and fought and lived and died
for the Lord they loved and knew;
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen,
and one was a shepherdess on the green;
They were all of them saints of God, and I mean, God helping, to be one too.

They loved their Lord so dear, so dear, and his love made them strong;
They followed right for Jesus' sake the whole of their good lives' long.
And one was a soldier, and one was a priest, and one was slain by a fierce wild beast;
And there's not any reason, no, not the least, why I shouldn't be one too.

They lived not only in ages past; there are hundreds of thousands still.
The world is bright with the joyous saints who love to do Jesus' will.
You can meet them in school, on the street, in the store,
In church, by the sea, in the house next door;
They are saints of God, whether rich or poor, and I mean to be one too."
                                        [--Words by Lesbia Scott, from the United Methodist Hymnal, #712]

Yesterday (Novermber 1^st) was “All Saints Day” -- a day for God’s people to celebrate and remember the lives of all God’s “saints”:  those living now who call Jesus their Savior; and those who’ve gone on to be with the Lord this past year. .

As we celebrated the “saints” of our church and the “saints” of our lives who’ve gone to be with the Lord since All-Saints Day last year, my prayer is that those of us who remain here will learn from the example of the “saints who’ve gone before” how to be people who live by the call of Christ. 

In the words of the hymn, “I mean to be one, too.”  Will you?  Remember, God loves you and I do, too!