The approaching days

We are approaching days of intense power.

Thanksgiving Day -- A day our nation sets apart from all of the other days of the year to officially and formally give thanks. It is awesome to imagine the possiblity of EVERY human being taking time on Thursday to be nothing other than GRATEFUL...I can imagine the atmosphere humming with words of thanks and appreciation! For at least a while human hearts and minds rest in a condition of fullness and completion...at least for a while.

The next day also has intense power: In America the day after Thanksgiving is often named "The Biggest Shopping Day" of the year. We open ourselves to the voice of need and desire that is broadcast in increasingly creative fashion: "Buy me...I am what YOU need to complete your wish list!" I pray that if we DO step out into the commercial/material world on that day, we can maintain a stance of gratitude for the SOURCE of all that enables us to give to others. I pray that we are shielded from any temptation that obscures our ability to choose purchases that can express (in some way) genuine love for the "other" AS WELL AS wise stewardship of our resources.

Then, on November 25 we celebrate the last Sunday of the church year. Christ the King Sunday -- This is the day that the church sets aside to bow the knee and proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord of our Life. This isn't the most popular concept for many Americans, perhaps. We sometimes shy away from any images of monarchy or Lordship. However, the children of God do well to remind each other that there is indeed a benevolent one seated in eternity who provides all that we could ever desire as people of the Kingdom of God. As we bow before the King of our lives, (in attitude if not also literally with our bodies) we acknowledge that Christ the King is the giver of all. We acknowledge that the powers and principalities of the "world" have no ultimate claim upon our life. We center ourselves once again on and in the identity we share as the children of God.

I pray that each and all of us experience wellsprings of gratitude, contentment and amazing wholeness in these approaching days.

ps: I will not be posting again until November 25--no computer access til then.