One could look back on 2022 and easily ask this question. So much has brought pain and heartache to so many:
floods and fires as we damage our planet
a world-affecting war against innocents
missile firings
mass shootings
curtailed women's rights
inflation
partisan and mean politics
anti-semitism
anti-Asian prejudice
The list goes on. It deflates and depresses. It would seem that God has abandoned the scene and left us to pick up the pieces, and there is truth here. None of the above are part of God's will or plan. Rather, they are a fallout of our not following God's plan to steward the Earth and all that lives on it. God loves us enough to let us make our choices and live with the consequences of our choices. But like a loving parent, God has not abandoned the scene. Thanksgiving is a time to remember that.
As we round into the Thanksgiving holiday week, I suggest that you request everyone bring a "gratitude list" to the table. In advance of your Thanksgiving meal, have everyone spend a few minutes writing down a list of things for which they are grateful this year and share it during the meal before you talk about anything else. The sharing can double as your shared prayer for the food and the friends and family in communion around the food. I suspect your gratitude lists will far outnumber the concerns I listed above. Let the gratitude lists remind us of God's promise, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Blessings and peace upon you and yours this Thanksgiving week.
