Thankfulness, now

Rest and Be Thankful sign by John Firth, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

              As I’ve been writing the 3D section of these devotionals I’ve maybe veered a little away from the 21 questions I have about liturgical ministry in the world as it is. So, in today’s reflections I’m going to try and move us back to those questions.

-Disestablishment—What parts of disestablishment ought we give thanks for?

              It’s a fair question that parries the assumption that everything about the new order is antagonistic to the Gospel. For example, a defacto established church is also an obliged church, a church that can never be more than a chaplain to the culture, never a witness, never counter-cultural or even counter-counter-cultural. I thank God that we don’t have to pretend consumerism and hyper-individualism is good, bless partisanship, or come running every time the voice of the moment says to heel. Instead, we can heed the Spirit’s calling come what may and call spades spades.

              I say all of that even as I mourn the Church being a central pillar of the culture, I mourn that sports coaches don’t check with me before they schedule games, I mourn that politicians never ask for a prayer before meetings or big decisions. I mourn that the culture as a whole doesn’t see The Church as the logical place to bring their joys and their sorrows, seeking to transform them all into prayer.

              As I mentioned yesterday, I thank God that, as worship becomes less about cultural respectability and a “show”, we can let the liturgy breathe and do the work it was originally meant to do. For example, giving 20 seconds before the Great Thanksgiving to invite people to consider what they are thankful for—it opens up the words that follow, “It is right and salutary… to give God thanks and praise,”.

              And, in a world that doesn’t focus on thanksgiving, but instead scarcity, where we’re told we never have enough, we ourselves are never enough, where partisan lenses obscure grace, and knee jerk interpretations of the times call forth waves of judgement, in such a world, thanks and praise can make all the difference. Being clear that we’re not just saying words to be seen and heard and enact yet another ungracious piece of the ways of the world, is tremendous! It offers up an alternative vision, it offers us the possibility of contentment!

 

Decentralization— What new ways can we give thanks in a decentralized world?

              One interesting phenomenon that springs up every couple of years on social media is various ways to give thanks collectively. Most Novembers these days there are Thanksgiving Challenges, where folk name something they are thankful for, for the entire month, or at least up until Thanksgiving Day. Similarly, I have a friend who, as the last thing he does before he goes to bed, asks his social media followers, “Where did you find joy today?”

              As much as social media gets used to brag and kindle covetousness and comparison, there are also ways to encourage gratefulness!