A Thanksgiving Day Reflection 2010

A Reflection on Thanksgiving


God’s grace is a gift for which I give thanks. My life is blessed, not because I am good but because God is good and has led me in the life of faith. No matter how far I stray and walk in an opposite direction, His unfailing love acts like a magnet and pulls me back on course.

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve sat in a congregation and when they call out, “God is good” and respond by saying “all the time” then again it is called out, “all the time” and the response is “God is good” I have just sat there listening. Listening… because I didn’t “feel” that to be true. I felt it would have been more hypocritical to participate in that than to sit quietly.

The wonder of that is God knew what I was feeling and He loved me in spite of myself. He loved me when I was unlovable. He touched me when I was untouchable. He reached me when I was unreachable.

How I wish we could today sit down and share a cuppa coffee! Here we are, Cyber Friends and Sister’s in Christ having communicated through this medium of cyberspace. I wish you faith that is unwavering, love that is true and peace… The peace that passes all understanding.

Have a most wonderful time of Thanksgiving,

Tamara

Autumn's Leaves

AUTUMN GOD, the planet turns
and the earth signals a change.
Open me to the transitions I need to face in my own life.
Be with me in the letting go,
the saying good-bye
to habits, relationships, and plans
that stand in your way of growing.
Deepen my trust that as I let go,
like the falling leaves,
I will always fall into your embrace. Amen.

- Larry Peacock
Openings

From p. 303 of Openings: A Daybook of Saints, Psalms, and Prayer by Larry James Peacock. Copyright © 2003 by Larry James Peacock. All rights reserved.

It’s cold in Arizona this morning. It is 34 degrees. I’d venture to say that the season has finally changed. It was so warm on Monday – high 80’s and today’s high is anticipated to be 68 degrees.


As I re-read Larry Peacock’s words, I am reminded of the transitions I face in my life. Today my prayer is that I let go and say good-bye to estabished habits that I need to be rid of, relationships that are toxic and those things that stand in the way of growth. May I trust fully that when I fall into His embrace, I will be caught. ~Amen!


~Tamara

All Saints Day

Psalm 56:8 (Contemporary English Version)
8You have kept record of my days of wandering. You have stored my tears in your bottle and counted each of them.

Our congregation has a memorial garden. In that garden is of course a flowerbed, a pool with trickling water and a large stone with a statue of Jesus seated upon it. Then there is the wall that houses the cremated remains of those who have gone before us.

 

Often when our three year old grandson accompanies us to our house of worship, he will ask if we can go ‘sit with Jesus.’ I take him when he asks. I wish I had learned the art of ‘sitting’ with Jesus at an early age. I am good at sitting and reading a devotional and then praying, but to just sit and wait to hear… well, I’ve not perfected that art, and I do believe it is an art.

Each time I gather with persons from church, I am aware that each one of us sits next to a pool of tears. Each one of us carries in our own hearts personal wounds as well as the wounds of the nation. Each one of us groans, not only with our own painful longings, but also with the painful longings of that part of the world in which we live. Each time a tear falls into that pool, it ripples out and reverberates and somehow touches another person.

 

So here we are on November 1st, 2010 – All Saints Day. Again I am reflecting on the Saints who have gone before us. Can they see us? Do they offer prayers of support for us? Do they encourage us to ‘finish the race’? I am reminded of the Steve Green song, “Find Us Faithful.”

...because we're His,
Tamara