ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 7, 2022
Have you ever been tickled with what autocorrect gave you as its interpretation? Now it is important to know that my fingers were a bit off on the keyboard when I tried to type “thankfulness,” but it autocorrected to “the gout.” I’ve never had gout, but I’m pretty sure no one has ever felt a sense of thankfulness, except when it subsides. I remember being told by a wonderful Christian individual that we should, as the scriptures suggest, be thankful in all things (1st Thessalonians 5:18). I do not believe Paul was inviting us to be thankful for the lousy and painful stuff of life, even though it was exactly what this individual was suggesting to me. Instead, I think we were being invited to look, even in the challenging moments of life, for the gifts that come our way. A few verses later, Paul would write, “…examine everything carefully and hang on to what is good.” I don’t believe you should be thankful for a difficult diagnosis, a stubbed pinky toe, or a car that requires an extremely expensive repair. But I have always appreciated people who continue to examine their lives carefully and can say, “In spite of what has happened, there are things for which I am thankful. They are…” Such witnesses remind me to continue to find the gifts that are forever present even in the most troublesome moments of life.
Holy God, you are never the source of our suffering, but you continue to be present to us and to provide us with gifts of your grace. For that, I am thankful. Amen.
