Politics, The Stress of Daily Living, and Thanksgiving

Soon our latest political season will be over and the next one will begin.  The after effects of the latest natural catastrophe will still be a nightmare for most those affected.  Daily living will continue to be too expensive, too void of free time, too consumed with the tyranny of the immediate, and multiple big holidays with multiple commitments loom right around the corner.  How dare one of those so-called holidays go by the name “Thanksgiving!”  It is at times such as these that Charles Dickens’ character Scrooge, with his “Bah Humbug” becomes a rational alternative.

It is at times such as these that I am drawn to two stunningly beautiful sentences that have sustained me for years.  Two sentences from a sermon preached at St. Paul’s on Christmas Day in 1624 by John Donne.  “God made Sun and Moon to distinguish seasons, and day and night, and we cannot have the fruits of the earth but in their season:  But God hath made no decree to distinguish the seasons of his mercies; In paradise, the fruits were ripe, the first minute, and in heaven it is alwaies Autumne, his mercies are ever in their maturity.  We ask panem quotidianam, our daily bread, and God never sayes you should have come yesterday, he never sayes you must come againe tomorrow, but to day if you will heare his voice, to day he will heare you.”

It is at times such as these we need not bury our heads in the sand, hide from the truth, or shy away from the challenges before us in life and faith.  At times such as these we need remember the fullness of God’s blessings and love which surround us now.  We need to hear the words of Lamentations 3:22-23, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  This is not a simplistic panacea which ignores the realities of our world.  This is an acceptance of the realities of the nature of God.  In God this is our new day.  May you live this day knowing of God’s never ending blessings and love.  May you share the newness of God’s blessings and love with those around you.  For when you do, there just may be a few less “times such as these.”