Thursday, November 19

Giving Thanks, Sacred Rhythms, and Facebook

This has been a week of tough things. I wish I had a better word than "things" to use here, but nothing else seems to fit. Between illness and loss in my seminary community, difficult conversations at work, scrambling to get organized for what may be overly-ambitious holiday plans, and scary medical issues in my extended family, I feel pretty lucky to still be in motion this week. The temptation to just stay in bed while the world moves around me has been hard to overcome every morning.

In the midst of these situations, though, I also find myself taking more seriously one activity I decided to undertake this Thanksgiving season. I'll just go ahead and admit: I log into Facebook everyday, multiple times a day. (Perhaps it is an element of my addiction to knowing what is going on in the world. I also listen to NPR every morning, and read 2 newspapers online daily...) One of my roommates decided to join a friend of hers in posting a "thankful" status every day that she logs in, as a reminder of the season we are in, and the many good things in our lives. I decided to hop on board.

I began with things like, "I am thankful for coffee" and "I am thankful for sunlight." Even the "Today I am thankful for Jesus" was a bit tongue-in-cheek.

But, curiously, I find myself thinking more deeply about the things for which I am truly thankful, even in the midst of tragedy and tears, unsettled lives and uncertain outcomes.

Today, I am thankful for the sacred rhythms of my faith; for a God who hears our prayers every moment of every day, and who continues to invite us to come forward in remembering the work done for us through Christ and the Church.

I'm not about to say that a Facebook status update is a sacred rhythm, or a deeply spiritual act of any sort. Just that I find it curious the many ways that God reminds us of God's presence and work in our lives and invites us to take part in the Kingdom. I pray that we all experience this in the midst of tough weeks and unexpected circumstances.

What are you thankful for this season?
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Accept, O Lord, my thanks and praise for all that you have done for me. I thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love. Above all, I thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the truth of His Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast obedience, by which he overcame death; and for his rising to life again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom. Amen.