Psalm
128
NPMC
Mark 10:
13-16
Thanksgiving Day
October 11, 2009
Thanksgiving Blessings
How good it is to be in awe of the love of God, to walk in the ways of God which are wholeness and peace. These are my words for the opening line of Psalm 128. What does it mean to walk in the ways of God if we remember that we have been created in the image of God? In other words, how are we to live like God? I think it means to imagine as the Psalmist does, living so connected to the whole world and to the Creator that everyone will eat their fill of what they have planted and worked for, that happiness and good energy will be the primary mode of experience and that children will bring new life and promise for generations to come. Such a vision of contentment is the best that life with God provides and it is what God wants for everyone. To recognize that this scenario is far from what is real for many is not to deny that this is God’s desire and intent for all of creation.
We walk in the ways of God on this day of Thanksgiving prodded with a vision of wholeness for all people. Our thanksgiving celebration is not a mushy sentimentality that will have us all go from this place to sit in large families around a huge dining room table eating turkey and sending love vibes to one and all. The truth is that we don’t all have family close by and the close family does not always feel close. There are often huge rifts among the ranks: unhappiness palpable in the face of unfulfilled expectations. Illness or loss of a beloved partner, parent or child will ensure that the idyllic dream of harmony and contentment will not necessarily be a reality in our lives today. We live in the midst of much brokenness.
But idealized family life is not the ultimate vision of the bible passages we read this morning. Rather, the pictures painted in both the Psalm and the story of Jesus gathering the children are snapshots of what it means to be loved by God and worthy. It is about being open to blessing: a willingness to set aside hostilities and complaint, to move beyond our self-identity as victim; to find the beauty and the truth of acceptance and blessing in our lives.
For we have blessed the children today and with great delight. It is a privilege and a joy to offer our blessing, isn’t it? Imagine how God feels. God too has blessed the children today and blesses us. Receiving a blessing requires that we become as a child – if we haven’t figured that out yet. Blessing can not be coerced, does not arise out of domination, has nothing to do with power, perfection, success, control, performance or position. Unless we become open to blessing, willing to allow the grace of God to enter our lives we are simply not able to receive the fullness of what God hopes and dreams for us.
Mark’s gospel account of Jesus’ blessing of the children should shake us up because Jesus says that children are the centre of the Kingdom of God. We are inclined to think that we participate in the kingdom by striving for perfection and utilizing our superior knowledge to work toward religious purity and predictability. We live in a world where the one with the biggest guns wins. Jesus says that walking in the ways of God will have us set aside guns and privilege and dizzying over-achieving in order that we might with wide-eyed trust and anticipation await God’s blessing.
Rachel Remen in her book My Grandfather’s Blessings recounts the power of blessing in her childhood. Her grandfather was a Jewish rabbi.
On Friday afternoons when I would arrive at my grandfather’s house after school, the tea would already be set on the kitchen table. My grandfather had his own way of serving tea. There were no teacups and saucers or bowls of granulated sugar or honey. Instead, he would pour the tea directly from the silver samovar into a drinking glass. There had to be a teaspoon in the glass first, otherwise the glass, being thin, might break.
My grandfather did not drink his tea in the same way that the parents of my friends did either. He would put a cube of sugar between his teeth and then drink the hot tea straight from his glass. So would I. I much preferred drinking tea this way to the way I had to drink tea at home.
After we had finished our tea my grandfather would set two candles on the table and light them. Then he would have a word with God in Hebrew. Sometimes he would speak out loud, but often he would close his eyes and be quiet. I knew then that he was talking to God in his heart. I would sit and wait patiently because the best part of the week was coming.
When Grandpa finished talking to God, he would turn to me and say, “Come, Neshume-le.” (Neshume-le means “beloved little soul.”) Then I would stand in front of him and he would rest his hands lightly on the top of my head. He would begin by thanking God for me and for making him my Grandpa. He would specifically mention my struggles during the week and tell God something about me that was true. Each week I would wait to find out what that was. If I had made mistakes during the week, he would mention my honesty in telling the truth. If I had failed, he would appreciate how hard I had tried. If I had taken even a short nap without my nightlight, he would celebrate my bravery in sleeping in the dark. The he would give me his blessing and ask the long-ago women I knew from many stories—Sarah, Rachel, Rebekah, and Leah—to watch over me.
These few moments were the only time in my week when I felt completely safe and at rest…. My grandfather died when I was seven years old. I had never lived in a world without him before, and it was hard for me…. At first I was afraid that without him to see me and tell God who I was, I might disappear. But slowly over time I came to understand that in some mysterious way, I had learned to see myself through his eyes. And that once blessed, we are blessed forever. (pp. 22-23)
On this Thankgiving Day as we await and anticipate God’s blessing yet again we open ourselves to the truth that we have been blessed many times over, loved by God and deemed worthy. Let us not withhold our blessings from each other, whether in our families or in our places of work or in this faith community. For blessing is an act of freeing, an act of trust and a prayer of gratitude. May the God of love and freedom bless your lives on this Thanksgiving Day. AMEN