Eucharisteo

“Eucharisteo—thanksgiving—always precedes the miracle.”

― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

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A Haiku for Thanksgiving

how does thanks emerge

by waiting for gifts received

or living gratefully

                             Stephen Kliewer

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It has been decreed. 

History impels us!

Tradition demands it! 

The merchants insist! 

We have no choice!  Count your blessings

Rejoice in your affluence

Eat ‘till you founder,

Then go out and shop till you drop and buy till you die….

It’s the holidays, its Thanksgiving, and Black Friday, and, eventually, Christmas,….

American style

But wait a minute!  What if you don’t feel thankful? 

What if your life isn’t all that great?

In a long past Peanuts cartoon

where the crew has entered the dining hall at a camp

and breakfast is on the table. 

Lucy digs in. 

Peppermint Patty says,

“Wait a minute!  We are supposed to pray first. 

We have to give thanks for what we are about to receive!” 

Lucy, with a distressed look on her face answers… 

“Well I’ve already received it, and I’m not thankful.”

It happens, doesn’t it?! 

There are times when we just don’t feel thankful. 

Instead we feel discouraged, beaten, or frustrated. 

How do we, when our day, or week, our month, our year has gone poorly, give thanks? 

To use the words of the Psalmist,

how can we “Sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land.”

I think, to over simplify

The secret is

Presence

Sacred Presence

The secret is understanding that

the Sacred is present, woven into the fabric of who we are

in such a way that we are never

alone

never unloved

never without the capacity

to overcome evil with Good

hate with love

call this understanding faith

call it anticipatory hope

call it what you will

One of my favorite prophets is Habakkuk! 

Habakkuk was not a person who, from a human perspective

had experienced blessing, or abundance. 

He had watched as the Egyptians killed good King Josiah. 

He had stood by helplessly as the hordes of Babylon had poured through the land of Judah,

conquering city after city.  

He had seen Jerusalem itself fall under siege. 

He had experienced famine, injustice, treachery, death and defeat. 

But somehow he found it in him to write these words…..

Though the fig tree does not bud

And there are no grapes on the vines

Though the olive crop fails

And the fields produce no food

Though there are no sheep in the pen

And no cattle in the stalls,

Yet… I will rejoice in the Lord

I will be joyful in God my savior.

Can you imagine writing such words?  Lets bring it up to date!

Though climate change looms

And economic inequity grows

And injustice rules

And children are imprisoned

And minorities are oppressed

Though the rich and powerful abuse their power

Though I personally struggle with illness

Or poverty

Or loneliness or depression, or anxiety

Though I feel as if there is nothing I can do

And the world is falling apart around me

Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord!

Habakkuk understood that

 there is no direct connection between outward success,

comfort, ease, or even health,

and blessing. 

He understood that thanksgiving depended on something other than all that outward stuff.

It depended upon a sense

that God is as close as one’s breath

and that God is Love

and living gratefully

out of that place of being loved

and knowing that that Love

poured into us by the Sacred

will ultimately

be enough

how does thanks emerge

by waiting for gifts received

or living gratefully