November 24, 2015
Dear Friends and Family of Faith,
Philippians 4:4-7 "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Since Thursday is Thanksgiving, I thought I would say a few words about giving thanks. I love the above scripture, even though it is not always easy to do - giving thanks in EVERY situation. Definitely not as easy as it sounds. The following is an excerpt from the latest devotional from The Lutheran that I get each week. It was something I did not know about Stephen Colbert.
"In August, TV host Stephen Colbert sat down with a Gentleman's Quarterly reporter who asked him about one of those most difficult moments in his life. When Colbert was 10, his father and two of his brothers were killed in a plane crash. Interviewer Joel Lovell wrote: “We eventually got around to the question of how it could possibly be that [Colbert] suffered the losses he’s suffered and somehow … doesn’t exhibit any of the anger or open-woundedness of so many other comedians ….” Colbert said: “You gotta learn to love the bomb. Boy, did I have a bomb when I was 10. That was quite an explosion. And I learned to love it. … That might be why you don’t see me as someone angry and working out my demons onstage. It’s that I love the thing that I most wish had not happened.”
In my experience, journeys are rarely joyous. Most have been either demanding and boring or painful and difficult—full of the kind of life lessons I’d rather not have had to learn at the time. So, learning to love the bomb—that’s an aspect of the journey I’ve yet to master. It’s easy to be thankful for the good things God has given me. But the terrible? The tedious and mundane? That’s a lot harder.
After I read this, I decided to challenge myself to be thankful for all of it—every flat tire, every traffic jam, every “bomb,” no matter how painful it might be. I want to be thankful because I know every good thing I’ve been given was the result of a thousand uneventful, boring—even bad—things. I want to be thankful because I know all that I’ve been given is holy. I want to be thankful because I know that the fact that I even exist is a miracle. I want to be thankful because God is good and worthy to be praised.
Shalom,
Pastor Sandy
Dear Friends and Family of Faith,
Philippians 4:4-7 "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Since Thursday is Thanksgiving, I thought I would say a few words about giving thanks. I love the above scripture, even though it is not always easy to do - giving thanks in EVERY situation. Definitely not as easy as it sounds. The following is an excerpt from the latest devotional from The Lutheran that I get each week. It was something I did not know about Stephen Colbert.
"In August, TV host Stephen Colbert sat down with a Gentleman's Quarterly reporter who asked him about one of those most difficult moments in his life. When Colbert was 10, his father and two of his brothers were killed in a plane crash. Interviewer Joel Lovell wrote: “We eventually got around to the question of how it could possibly be that [Colbert] suffered the losses he’s suffered and somehow … doesn’t exhibit any of the anger or open-woundedness of so many other comedians ….” Colbert said: “You gotta learn to love the bomb. Boy, did I have a bomb when I was 10. That was quite an explosion. And I learned to love it. … That might be why you don’t see me as someone angry and working out my demons onstage. It’s that I love the thing that I most wish had not happened.”
In my experience, journeys are rarely joyous. Most have been either demanding and boring or painful and difficult—full of the kind of life lessons I’d rather not have had to learn at the time. So, learning to love the bomb—that’s an aspect of the journey I’ve yet to master. It’s easy to be thankful for the good things God has given me. But the terrible? The tedious and mundane? That’s a lot harder.
After I read this, I decided to challenge myself to be thankful for all of it—every flat tire, every traffic jam, every “bomb,” no matter how painful it might be. I want to be thankful because I know every good thing I’ve been given was the result of a thousand uneventful, boring—even bad—things. I want to be thankful because I know all that I’ve been given is holy. I want to be thankful because I know that the fact that I even exist is a miracle. I want to be thankful because God is good and worthy to be praised.
Shalom,
Pastor Sandy