Thankful?

Thanksgiving Day has come and gone. We had a good weekend. One of our daughters, her husband and three children came for a visit along with one of our sons. Just under half of our entire family all together for a few days. It was awesome. Those of us who have good family relationships, who still have living parents and get along well together are blessed. No doubt about it.

But, living apart, even just an hour by airplane is hard. We like living in Ponoka, but separation from those you love is a loss that lingers.  I know that I’m not the only one who feels this way. Many people live in situations where they don’t get along with other family members. And whether they admit it or not, that’s a loss they grieve. For many others who do get along, getting together can be very difficult due to distance, age or well, death. That’s more grief and loss. It seems that’s the situation we’re all faced with in one way or another.

I think it’s important to acknowledge that reality especially after Thanksgiving Day as we head toward Christmas. Being in denial about what is sad or broken in life and relationships doesn’t help. Trying to fill loneliness or isolation with stuff, or getting high, doesn’t help. Sure a night out drinking will cause a person to forget their troubles for a while, but it all comes back with a headache all too soon, doesn’t it?

And besides, we aren’t built to live alone or cut off from others. We need the connection that comes through others. The Bible teaches that both things are necessary in order to be contented. It also teaches that the only way to believe and really embrace this is through the gift of Jesus. He was a man just like us. He grieved for lost friends and he embraced family, friends and co-workers with a deep passion. They were people and they were important for who they were and not what they could do. That’s a great example to follow and maybe that produces a couple of suggestions.

First, It may help all of us to be more thankful if we viewed people the way Jesus did. Each one a gift; someone to learn from and lean on when life is hard; someone who also will need the same things from us; someone who will never see things exactly the same way as we do, but to choose to get along with them anyway; someone to forgive when they inevitably hurt us. And in forgiving realize that no one goes through life without needing to apologize frequently.

And second, the example of Jesus teaches that even God in human form couldn’t do life on his own. He needed friends and people to confide in; he needed help to get the work done and he needed to time to kick back and enjoy the company of others.  

It’s a funny thing that if the Son of God needed these rather common experiences to be thankful and content, I wonder why so many of us live as though we can do without them.