Giving Thanks

Today is Thanksgiving – a note to my American friends we celebrate Thanksgiving earlier than you.  This morning my thoughts are focused on two things – giving thanks, and home. 

When I think of giving thanks, the passage from 1 Thessalonians 5:18 comes to mind, "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."  It is important to note that it says, ‘in every thing’ and not ‘for every thing’.  I don’t think the writer of this passage intends us to give thanks to God for everything that happens to us.  It would be inappropriate to give thanks for the premature death of a loved one, or for a vehicle accident in which you or a passenger was seriously injured, and the many things that many or all of us have experienced in life that are tragic, or heart wrenching, or horrible, to contemplate.  That also applies to the not so serious events in life when fate seems to be conspiring against you.  However, it is possible to give thanks to God when life gives us a wrong turn for God is with us particularly in those difficult times. 

With that in mind, I consider what I am thankful for this Thanksgiving?  Fortunately, I do not have much that is difficult for me to not be thankful for.  Lorna and I have returned from our summer at the cottage in PEI.  We have had 14 years of enjoying and appreciating our time each year at the cottage and with many friends and good neighbours.  That has come to an end with the decision that it was time to close that portion of our lives and sell the cottage.  So, thankfully we were able to sell the cottage in a slow real estate market – the sale was finalized on our last day – something to be truly thankful for.  We were able to pack up all we wanted to bring back to Ontario (more than might be imagined for a cottage), sell what we didn’t, and give to the local second-hand shop.  I was also thankful for the safe journey home which was uneventful if a bit stressful.  Actually, the whole process was quite stressful, and we both are thankful that we didn’t wait until next year to undertake all this as we are definitely not getting any younger – but I hope we are getting better.  So here we are back in our home in Parkhill and settling in for it to be our year-round home.

That brings us to the second thing on my mind this morning – home.  What comes to mind for this is the quote from TS Eliot, "We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."  Our cottage was home for us and our house in Parkhill Ontario was and is also home.  However, neither of those homes was, I believe, what Eliot had in mind when he wrote those memorable lines.  I give thanks that Lorna and I had our home at the cottage with friends and neighbours and the opportunity to worship at an Anglican church.  There are things in both homes that have components of what Eliot was expressing.  There was a place where we were safe and secure and could enjoy the aspects of life that fulfilled us – Lona had her garden and I had my bunkie.  We had St. Alban’s church where we could worship God in a meaningful way and where I could preside and provide music with people we love.  That is true of our home in Parkhill – in ways that are different but the same.  We have the Anglican Church of St. John the Evangelist at home in Parkhill.  Both those homes are reflections and indications of what our true home will be when we shall arrive once more at the place we each started and see it truly for the first time.

So, there is much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.  I hope that you have much to give thanks for as well – in everything give thanks but definitely not for everything.