Jerry often says the hardest
sermons to write are around holidays. It can seem everything that could be
said has already been said.
I’m inclined to agree as I’ve
gone through several options for today’s post.
All of them have been shelved in
favor of a future date because what I really want to say is not clever or
anything you haven’t heard before.
It’s simply this— first, stay as safe
as possible, and second, be thankful.
I’ve been reading again about the
1918-1919 Spanish flu pandemic because it helps me realize that these are not
as some have said, “unprecedented times.” At least as far as the pandemic is
concerned. In fact, when I read historical accounts, much of what we are going
through today, our grand parents and great- grandparents faced. They also
encountered political and civil unrest in addition to the pandemic. In fact, WWI
and the pandemic overlapped so it had to seem as if the world was in chaos.
By October of 1918, 200,000 had
died since March when the flu first surfaced. But on Armistice Day in November,
many took their masks off in celebration. By January after family holiday
gatherings, the nation was ravaged by the virus and would go on to see more
than 675,000 Americans die from the disease before it diminished in the summer
of 1919.
So, what I’m saying here is, let’s
not do that again. Simple measures will go a long way in keeping us from repeating
history. Let’s do what we need to do for our health care workers, for our
elderly, for those with underlying issues.
Next, let’s be thankful. And I’m
not talking about throwing a blanket of “Thank you God for everything” kind of
prayer out there, but despite all that swirls around us, let’s take the time to
count our blessings.
One by one.
In the words of a great old hymn,
when you do that, “. . . it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.” When we
shift our attention from what’s going off the rails to all that God is doing and
has done, we gain a new perspective.
Especially on my heart is so many
in my sphere are grieving the loss of someone dear and facing the holidays for
the first time without someone they love. This has been an unimaginably hard
year for those who are grieving because of isolation. Let’s remember them in our prayers and maybe with a phone call or text.
2020 has seemed as a song lyric I heard recently, “the longest year in history.” But if we could
speak to our ancestors, I’m sure they would offer us hope to persevere. They
did and we can, too.
I’ll say it again. Be safe. Be
thankful.
Let me encourage you with these
verses, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God
which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
Dear friends, may you have a
happy and blessed Thanksgiving and may His unshakable peace be yours despite these
challenging times.
My new novella, A Season for Everything, has just released. The ebook is available HERE and the print version is currently available HERE.