Weekly Devotions for 11/23

Sights and Insights

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. 4 Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,[a] stand up and walk.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 All the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. – Acts 3:1-10 (NRSV)

We have come to Thanksgiving week. This week means many different things to different people. For some, it is about turkey and pumpkin pie; for others, parades or football games. For some, it is travels to be with family; for others it is just another meal at home. It can feel full of connections or lonely, deeply meaningful or overly programmatic. I have found myself in all of those positions over the years. Perhaps you have too.

Thanksgiving is not strictly a religious holiday. In essence it is not particularly different from harvest festivals the world over. Yet certainly pausing and giving thanks opens a space for a spiritual dimension. To see the world and see it as a gift is a step towards recognizing the spiritual within life. To frame ones days within an approach of gratitude is to open oneself to the world. In his recent concert at St. Matthew, Matt Wheeler talked about this sense of needing to say “thank you” to something as a first stage of recognizing God. His song “The Wonder of It All” addressed that sense of the incredibleness of the world around us and how wonderfully sublime it all is. The feeling goes beyond any particular thing that we can be thankful for; thankfulness can come to describe our way of relating to the world.

May you have a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. That is, may you have a time full of wonder at the gift of all that is in the world. May it open your heart to see all of creation as a gift. May that sense of wonder give you a glimpse of the intense love and grace of God, this week and every week. Amen.