From The Pastor’s Desk—
To one who is not eager I do not reveal anything, nor do I explain anything to one who is not communicative. If I raise one corner for someone and he cannot come back with the other three, I do not go on.
-Confucius
I remember first encountering the above passage, from the Chinese philosopher Confucius, in an intro course on Asian History and Philosophy, during my sophomore year of college. At the time it made a slight impression, due in large part to the fact that I was a good student. I had always done well in school, easily picked up on connections inherent in the subjects covered, and was surrounded by teachers and classmates who could be relied upon to dig deeply into the material being presented. To put it in Confucius’ own idiom: if someone handed me one corner, I could pretty easily find the other three.
But, not everyone has the same experience. For people without a formal education, or with learning disabilities, or those who worked three jobs to pay their way through school, or countless other scenarios- the work of finding those three remaining corners can be daunting, even impossible at times. When we do not have the tools we need, or the leisure and security to investigate, even simple tasks can seem insurmountable.
This has been on my mind as we near Thanksgiving. When we are content, secure, well provided for, it is rather easy to be thankful and to count our blessings. But, when we are challenged -when someone we love is sick, when we face financial uncertainty, when the future seems full of challenges and setbacks- it can be harder to feel thankful. To pretend otherwise is to deny the challenges, fears, and concerns that each of us face.
But, to dwell only on those uncomfortable aspects of our lives is to blind ourselves to the many, many blessings we possess, even in the midst of sorrow or uncertainty. While we fear for the future, we become less mindful of the blessings of the present; when we dwell on the regrets of the past, we miss the gift of this present moment.
I’ll close with some words by the writer and historian, Diana Butler Bass. May her words kindle a new flame of thankfulness for you during this season.
But this Thanksgiving, we choose gratitude. We choose to accept life as a gift from you, and as a gift from the unfolding work of all creation. We choose to be grateful for the earth from which our food comes; for the water that gives life; and for the air we all breathe. We choose to thank our ancestors, those who came before us, for their stories and struggles; we receive their wisdom as a continuing gift for today. We choose to see our families and friends with new eyes, accepting them for who they are. We are thankful for our homes, whether humble or grand. We choose to appreciate and care for our neighbors whatever our differences or how much we feel hurt or misunderstood by them. We choose to see the world as our shared commons, our home now and the legacy we will leave to the generations to come. God, this Thanksgiving, we do not give thanks. We choose it.
—Pastor Jon
