“Reason enough”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Thursday, November 24, 2022
Psalm 100 (Forward, p. 26) CEV p. 616
Today is American Thanksgiving and so this psalm of praise, the Jubilate Deo, is more than appropriate. We should thank God and praise Him regardless of the date or occasion, and regardless of what particular things He has done for us. Nevertheless, this psalm is helpful in this in that it spells out some of the specific reasons we should praise and thank Him:
a) The Lord is God, meaning that He is sovereign, high and above all else, and firmly in control;
b) Our relationship with Him:
-He created us in the first place;
-We belong to Him and are His people;
-He cares for us as does a shepherd with its sheep (“We are the sheep of His pasture”: there is a certain possessiveness and protectiveness that He feels towards us);
c) His attributes:
-He is good;
-His love and faithfulness last forever.
Rightfully, properly, God’s actions of our behalf and His eternal nature and characteristics should continually occupy our thoughts and behaviours, but sadly—for most of us at least—they probably don’t. And so, Thanksgiving Day is a good wake-up call, a great reminder, a cattle prod as it were, to jolt us into a more consistent remembering and giving thanks. Amen.
Forward notes: “Know this: The Lord himself is God; he himself has made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise; give thanks to him and call upon his Name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his faithfulness endures from age to age” (verses 2-4).
“Technically, Thanksgiving is a secular holiday, in that it was officially recognized by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Many people struggle with the complex history of the holiday of Thanksgiving. But Christians have an alternative view to offer. Thanksgiving should not be a day on which we express our gratitude to humanity, living or dead. Rather, we should view this as a day set aside to acknowledge the presence of the Divine in our lives and to recognize that all we possess is a testimony to God’s care. It is also a season to express thankfulness for life and for the lives of the people we love. Gratitude should be offered every day—and especially on this one.”
Moving Forward: “Offer the prayer for Thanksgiving Day found in the Book of Common Prayer [American], p. 246”. (Sadly, as far as I can tell there isn’t a corresponding prayer in the Canadian Book of Alternative Services or Book of Common Prayer – 1962)