here lately, in our years on the sea of life, we have entered into one of those stormy territories, where the swells are large and the waves are high making it a challenge to navigate, and the winds change and increase, then decrease, but we know we have not yet reached the eye, and we know that when we do, there will be more of the same, or worse, before the storm dissipates.  this is an illustration of how little control we actually have in our lives, and that we only can hope to control what each of us does, and how we respond to whatever is laid in our paths.

we say that it’s life, but nonetheless, how to navigate it right now requires much in the order of calling up troubleshooting skills, interpretation skills like that of a fortune teller, and shields to protect against arrows that fly, and spears that are thrown, from those who are angry and just “getting it out of their systems” – the anger is so old and deep, that it might not be obvious the origin.  you can get hurt.  you will sustain lifelong scars.  will it kill you?  you do not know that. only God knows the answers. we pray that this is not part of the fallout.

so, you appeal to God in prayers.  you might say, “hey God, i’m sorry that i haven’t been that attentive to my thankfulness and my gratitude lately.  i’m sorry that i have hurt people, not intending to do that, but somehow through my thoughts, words, and deeds where those landed and people felt that i was doing something against them.  you cannot predict or control how this goes.  grace, here lately, has not been something that people are considering much.  forgiveness is a concept that has not yet been included because it maybe is not time to do this for people who have felt hurt and down driven for a goodly period of time.  this would come much later.  usually.  if it does.

we are here, the day before the big thanksgiving celebration and it is a somber one this year.  since this time a year ago, many things have transpired.  yet, we do need to think about those gifts in life for which we are grateful.  if we look outward, we see that we have many gifts.

we have family, albeit some are in a period of instability.  we are grateful to be in their lives, and will pray for resolution and healing for their troubled times.

we have our friends.  friendship is a rich gift of being a human in this life.  thanks are due for these friends.

we have a sunny day, after an overnight storm.

we have a roof over our heads, food on the table, and are not wearing rags and without shoes.

we know people who are fighting illnesses who have lived another day, and are grateful and full of grace.  for those who lost their battles and have moved on, we are grateful for having them in our lives, as this was a gift to us.

we know people who are fighting instability in their lives, and we will pray for them. they have lost jobs, they are having relationship issues, or other problems in their lives.  we will pray for them to overcome these challenges.  having challenges as a human is part of living.  we pray that the challenges do not overcome us, but that we overcome them.

most of all, we have love in our lives in many forms.  we have love in our hearts.  we do know that this comes from God’s universe and is within us, despite what we hear on the news, each of us has love within us.  we only need to call upon the power of love and what wonders it can do to heal mankind, if we let it in.

on this eve of thanksgiving here in the USA, may the grace of God be upon you, within you, all over you and those with whom you are connected.  we watch and pray for goodness and strength for good to come and in the next cycle, to anticipate thankfulness for the gifts of love in our lives.

November 23, 2016