How will you celebrate the US Thanksgiving holiday in a few days? Will you gather with family and friends feasting upon the marvelous bounty of God? It is predicted that more people will travel this holiday than in previous years.
What about your spirit? How do you live each day, each hour, even each minute with a thankful spirit? A thankful spirit keeps us mindful that our lives are entirely dependent on God, not just dependent upon ourselves –our own brawn, brains, and good looks. How are you overwhelmed with praise and adoration for all that Christ has done and is doing for, in, and through our lives, our communities, our neighborhoods, nations, and all of creation?
Sometimes, over time – we forget or have not yet fully recognized or cherished what God has done for us in Christ. The wear and tear of daily life can chip away at our trust in God and our appreciation for the bounty of life in Christ. Our anxiety is increased by the speed with which news travels of disasters around the world and in our own neighborhood. This news reinforces the view point that the world is a dangerous place. Random violence that kills football players on college campus, in shopping stores, and elementary schools reinforces the belief that everything in the world that happens is random, aimless, and unpredictable.
The Scripture
Paul, in the letter to the Colossians, 1:11-20, affirmed absolutely the relevance and purposes of God lived in all of creation through Christ. Emphatically Paul stated that all things were and are created in Christ, through Christ, and for Christ.
God did not simply start creation and then withdraw from creation. God is not an impersonal, uncaring God, that lets life just randomly unfold and the chips fall where they may, while God sits back and doesn’t pay attention. Christ is the Divine glue that holds all of the cosmos and each life together. The sustaining, active love, mercy, compassion, patience, forgiveness, and grace of God is lived in Christ.
If we want to compare this to the computer age, think of Christ as the motherboard of the computer. Christ is the operating system that makes the computer work, if you will imagine with me. No program on a computer can run without interfacing with the operating system. Every aspect of creation, the universe, and all creatures, ourselves included, are intricately touched, and woven together by Christ’s reconciling work on the cross.
The cross established a new relationship between God and creation. This new relationship between God and humanity is one which overcomes the rupture of sin. God is always in action! Love in action by God is experienced in the details of our lives and all of the cosmos. This evokes within us amazement, awe, and thanksgiving at the wonders that God lives among us.
Today’ Prayer Practice
How do we cultivate a thankful spirit? Through the joy-filled times, the difficult and chaotic moments, times of feeling overwhelmed and underwhelmed with life – how do we cultivate a thankful spirit, a spirit that marvels at the ways of God?
To consider how to answer that question, I turned to a favorite author of mine – Henri JM Nouwen. In his book Here and Now: Living in the Spirit ,Nouwen begins by stating:
“We must learn to live each day, each hour, yes, each minute as a new beginning, as a unique opportunity to make everything new. . . . Imagine walking through each day with the hope and expectation of hearing from God “I have a gift for you in this moment . . . ” [To do that we must learn to live with open minds and hearts to hear the resounding voice of God through our lives which says] “Let me show you where I live among my people.” (Nouwen 1994, 16)
When we are looking for Christ, we see God in the eyes of refugees. In the crook of a smile on a teary child’s face. In the grin of a granddaughter that has just received braces. And in the bent-over-ness of an elderly man and woman leaning on each other for support through their final years of earthly life.
To notice the marvelous things of God amid the ordinary of human life is a choice. We choose to listen. We choose to see. It is like looking at a hidden picture. Remember the children’s Highlights magazine that had a large picture with small objects embedded within the picture?
I have a hidden picture that I use all the time with groups for retreat and spiritual direction training. It is a picture of a family of bunnies at the beach. Mom is reading a book under the beach umbrella, Dad is standing beside her with a beach ball in his hands, brother is playing in the sand by the cooler. As we intentionally gaze at the picture we discover: A bell by Dad’s ear. A safety pin in the binding of Mom’s book. A magnifying glass, a golf club, a pencil and several others items.
By finding the hidden items in the larger picture we discover the hidden wholeness of the scene. This is what we choose to do when we look with intention, attentiveness, expectation, hope and love upon what God has created, whether in nature, looking upon another person or through the events of our lives.
Today, spend intentional time in prayer with a hidden picture and notice when, where, and how God actively loves and lives among humanity with Christ as the Divine Glue drawing us all together.
Hidden pictures may be found here. For each hidden object that you find, label it as one of the ways you notice God’s presence in your life and or present in the world.
Enjoy praying.
