Giving Thanks

The Thanksgiving holiday has always conjured up all sorts of pleasant associations for me - home, harvest, tasty food, joyful reunions with friends and family... At the same time, though, I can't help but be reminded of the painful history between Native Americans and white colonists. I have a friend who thinks of Thanksgiving as "Native American Genocide Denial Day." It's not the only holiday about which I have mixed feelings. I suppose there's no such thing as a "pure" holiday; even high holy days can easily accrue cultural trappings that detract from or even contradict original motivations for the occasion. But Thanksgiving does offer us the opportunity to reflect on our history - on our own prejudices and presumptions. It also allows us to celebrate progress and urges us to press onward toward the day when all persons can enjoy the harvest.

"Mountains Are All Aglow"

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1. Mountains are all aglow with autumn colors so bright;

rivers are filled with water, giving life to our days.

Golden fields wave their praise to God's bountiful harvest;

gratefully, skyward arising, hear our joyous songs of praise!

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Refrain: Reaching far as earthly eyes can see,

reaching far as humble hands can toil,

every harvest is from our Lord;

every blessing is from our God.

Praise for the harvest, thanks to our God.

Praise for the harvest, give praise to God.

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2. Every land so abundantly rich the harvest bears;

every orchard is filled with luscious, ripened new fruit.

Sun and rain by the Lord's design shall come at proper time.

Working hard, God has given us reasons for deep gratitude.

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Refrain

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3. Early spring is the time to sow all God's rich seeds of life.

Working hard, tilling God's earth; making preparation.

Looking forward to rewards of harvest so plentiful;

promised blessings will soon be ours in each revelation.

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Refrain

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4. Praise the Lord as we're planting God's word deep in each heart.

God has sent sunshine and the rain so the seedlings may grow.

Desert lands which seem barren, flowers still might bloom;

trusting in God's promises, our thanks to God we will show!

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Refrain

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Words: Ok In Lim, 1967; trans. by Hae Jong Kim, 1988;

versification by Hope Kawashima (Ps. 65:9-13; Acts 14:17)

Music: Jae Hoon Park, 1967

Advent Reflections

Advent has always been my favorite season of the church year. Maybe it's not kosher for clergy to have a favorite liturgical season, but I do. There's something so exciting about waiting for a promise to be fulfilled, for great expectations to come to pass, for nothing less than a miracle. Each year I try not to let the commercialized holiday culture of instant gratification burst my Advent suspense bubble. Instead, I try to focus on the Christmas story itself - on the hopeful expectation of Mary and indeed the entire community of the faithful who are placing all their bets on this mysterious messiah. I try to take stock of my deepest longings for the world, then I imagine what it would be like if - just maybe - this year they might come true. I revel in the unknown - I wait with the weight of God's promise. It's not easy to live for four weeks in suspense, and it must have been an extraordinarily long nine months for the holy parents-to-be. But if they made it through the wait in one piece, then surely I can, too.

"View the Present through the Promise"
Thomas H. Troeger

View the present through the promise,
Christ will come again.
Trust despite the deepening darkness,
Christ will come again.
Lift the world above its grieving
through your watching and believing
in the hope past hope's conceiving:
Christ will come again.

Probe the present with the promise,
Christ will come again.
Let your daily actions witness,
Christ will come again.
Let your loving and your giving
and your justice and forgiving
be a sign to all the living:
Christ will come again.

Match the present to the promise,
Christ will come again.
Make this hope your guiding premise,
Christ will come again.
Pattern all your calculating
and the world you are creating
to the advent you are waiting:
Christ will come again.

Borrowed Light: Hymn texts, prayers, and poems
Oxford University Press, 1994