Forward Today: Rejoice?! Always?!
Dear friends in Christ,
The epistle reading for Thanksgiving Day comes from Philippians. It begins, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone.”
In a world that seems overrun with chaos, violence, greed, lies, and division, how can we rejoice? When this epistle was written, things were worse. And yet the first Christians were exhorted to rejoice and to live as faithful followers of Jesus in the midst of the world’s tumult. St. Paul made a promise to those early Christians: “Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”
It’s true. Clinging to the love of God will not make all the problems of the world disappear, but it may well give us the resilience to contend with evil. Keeping our gaze fixed on the cross will not magically heal division, but it will remind us of the love of Jesus Christ, who died that all might be reconciled. Rejoicing may be difficult for us at times, but doing us enables us to be beacons of light and life in a gloomy world.
In the United States, tomorrow is set aside as a national day of thanks. Instead of bemoaning the things we do not have, we who follow Jesus can give thanks for what we do have, which is, if nothing else, the unfailing love of God. I encourage you to practice gratitude — say prayers of thanks, and tell the people in your life what is making you grateful.
Turning to God is not a way to shut out the problems of the world or the challenges of our own lives. Rather, it is a way of resetting our perspective and gaining strength to persevere in the race that is set before us.
May you have a blessed, joyous, and inspiring Thanksgiving.
Yours faithfully,
Scott Gunn
Executive Director
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