From the Study...

Dear Friends,

Lewis Weeks, who was President of Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, tells this story of a family in a church he once pastored. It was a family in which the patriarch had been stricken with Alzheimer’s Disease. It was Thanksgiving and the old man was so involved in Alzheimer’s that he could no longer speak or attend to any of his needs. He was sometimes cranky, but when he wasn’t agitated. He smiled a lot. He lived in a bed and a wheelchair. At dinner time on that Thanksgiving Day they put him in his wheelchair and rolled him up to the head of the table to join the family at dinner for as long as he would tolerate it. It was good to see him there. It might be the last time he would sit in that place. Who knows what another year would bring in his condition?

He had always been the one to offer the Thanksgiving blessing with the family gathered around the table. When everyone was seated, they joined hands and bowed their heads. The two on either side of the old man each held one of his hands and just as the eldest son was about to begin the prayer that his father always said, the old man, who could no longer speak, began to pray the most beautiful prayer of thanksgiving … as clearly as if Alzheimer’s had never claimed him. His faith had outlived his consciousness and thanksgiving welled up from his soul … from a place where only God lives.

What are you thankful for? This Thanksgiving I’m thankful for ring silencers and ‘off’ buttons on cell phones … that no one can turn off the moon and the stars … that teenagers grow up to have teenagers of their own … that there aren’t twice as many politicians and half as many teachers … that lots of children believe in Santa Claus and that some adults still do … that Jesus loves me, this I know.

On Thanksgiving you will gather at the table, and you will break bread together with people you love and who love you. There may be some missing who have shared Thanksgivings with you in years past. Perhaps they have found their places in the Kingdom of God or maybe they are separated from you by miles or circumstances … nevertheless, they are with you in spirit. There will probably be a turkey there and lots of other food. Enjoy it. God wants you to do that. And with God’s bounty before you … don’t forget where it all came from … and give thanks.

Blessings,

Mike