WATCHWORD:
Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, ‘Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.’ Luke 21:1-4
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Meditation:
The Love of God
Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade:
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry,
Nor could the scroll contain the whole though stretched from sky to sky.
Isn’t that beautiful? It captures the amazing grace of the Love of God which flows to each of us. Amazing fact: These words were scratched in Hebrew on a prison wall around the year 1000 AD by Meir Ben Issac Nehoria, a Jewish Rabbi, and then, in 1700, poet Alfred Smith translated them from Hebrew into English. Kenneth Peterson, in an Our Daily Bread devotional completes the history by telling us that in 1917, Frederick Lehman, included the poem as a third stanza in his hymn “The Love of God”. God’s blessings persist, from generation to generation, over centuries.
Have you thought about this – Thanksgiving is action, it is giving thanks for all that we have received. It is also a testimony to giving, generosity, sharing what we have with those who have less. Serving as a grace-giver, being the hands of our Lord in love.
Here are some additional thoughts on this blessed day…
Quotable Quotes:
What does love look like? It has hands to help others. It has feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of others. That is what love looks like. — St. Augustine
There is no such merchant as the charitable man; he gives that which he could not keep, to receive treasure which he cannot lose. — Francis Quarles
A Gift of Grapes:
Macarius was one of the ‘Desert Fathers,’ a group of Christian hermits who lived in the Egyptian desert in the fourth century C.E./A.D. “Once a certain brother brought a bunch of grapes to the holy Macarius, who for love’s sake thought not on his own things but on the things of others. [So he] carried it to another brother, who seemed more feeble.
And the sick man gave thanks to God for the kindness of his brother, but he too thinking more of his neighbor than himself, brought it to another, and he again to another.
So that same bunch of grapes was carried round all the cells scattered far over the desert, and no one knowing who first had sent it, it was brought at last to the first giver.” (Quoted in The Meditative Mind by Daniel Goleman)
Something Original from Me to You:
There Is Joy
There is a gratitude and joy that words alone cannot convey.
It lives within our heart and soul, and colors us along the way.
Eyes that see, ears that hear, hands that respond with care,
kindles in the warmth of grace, and causes love to share.
Often our joy grows painfully, that it spills tears across our face,
And unbidden, causes our Spirit to sing and magnifies our faith.
Stan Escott 2011
A Thanksgiving Wish:
My wish for you for this Thanksgiving day is that you spend time with your family, at the table, on a Zoom call, or simply on the phone, sharing. I am dividing my time with the family, divided by geography. While we dwell in at least eight different states, we are joined by God’s Love and our shared memories. God bless you-all.
The Hymn – The Love of God:
The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell;
it goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell.
The wandering child is reconciled by God’s beloved Son,
The aching soul again made whole and priceless pardon won.
O love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong!
It shall for evermore endure.
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A Prayer at the Table on Thanksgiving:
O Heavenly Father: we thank Thee for food and remember the hungry. We thank Thee for health and remember the sick. We thank Thee for family and friends and remember the friendless. We thank Thee for freedom and remember the enslaved. May these remembrances stir us to service that Thy gifts to us may be used for others. Amen.
