“God has two dwellings: one in heaven, and the other in a meek and thankful heart.”

A Joyful Thanksgiving

I have been reminded this week of the many different ways we as Americans celebrate this Thanksgiving holiday.  For us, this will be the first year that my husband and daughter don’t watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade together – she flies into Baltimore just in time to get here for the Eucharist.
I learned this week of another big tradition: the yearly football game between Calvert Hall and Loyola.   For us at St. James, there is the Eucharist, followed by the Blessing of the Hunt.   Many travel out of town to be with family; some have family and friends joining them for the feast; others may choose to ignore the day altogether.

One of the things I remember from living in California is that people would greet us with “Happy Turkey Day.”  I found it disturbing that we had so focused our tradition on what we ate, that some adopted one possible form of food as the name, and the cause, of the celebration.   Its a reminder to us how easily life can become out of balance.  There is a tension between appreciating what we have, and being controlled by those very things that bless us.  It is important to hold our blessings loosely, lest they begin to hold us.  Thanksgiving is an excellent time to look at what we hold, and what holds us, and give them once again to God, in remembrance that all we have came from God’s hands.

Thanksgiving Prayer

We return thanks to our mother, the earth, which sustains us.



We return thanks to the rivers and streams, which supply us with water.

We return thanks to all herbs, which furnish medicines for the cure of our diseases.

We return thanks to the moon and stars, which have given to us their light when the sun was gone.

We return thanks to the sun, that has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye.

Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit, in Whom is embodied all goodness, and Who directs all things for the good of Her children.

Iroquois Prayer, adapted

    Yesterday was the remembrance day for CS Lewis.  Clive Staples Lewis was born in Belfast Ireland in 1898.  He had a cheerful childhood until his mother passed away when he was 10 years old.  A month later, Lewis (called Jack) and his brother were sent to boarding school in England.  Jack Lewis hated boarding school, and spent his time reading adventure stories, myths, and fantasy.  When the school closed, we went to study privately, and became interested in many modern and classical languages, and medieval history and literature.  After serving in the British Army in World War I,
Lewis studied at Oxford, where he received firsts in Greek and Latin Literature, Philosophy and Ancient History, and English Literature.  Jack Lewis taught at Oxford for 29 years.  He was an atheist, who began exploring the idea of faith after many conversations with his friend, JRR Tolkein, a devout Catholic.  Lewis converted to Christianity, and wrote prolifically of his faith.  His pilgrimage from atheism to faith is chronicled in his book, “Surprised by Joy.”
    He is best known, perhaps, for his series for children, The Chronicles of Narnia, the first of which, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” will be released as a film by Disney in December.  Lewis was an excellent apologist.  Several of his books explore the Christian faith in an in-depth, but easily understandable way.  

Collect for CS Lewis:

    O God of searing truth and surpassing beauty, we give you thanks for Clive Staples Lewis, whose sanctified imagination lights fires of faith in young and old alike.  Surprise us also with your joy and draw us into that new and abundant life which is ours in Christ Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. AMEN



Almighty God, who art beyond the reach of our highest thought,
And yet within the heart of the lowliest;
Come to us, we pray thee, in all the beauty of light,
In all the tenderness of love,
In all the liberty of truth.
Mercifully help us to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thee.
Sanctify all our desires and purposes,
And upon each of us let thy blessing rest,
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
                            prayer from South Africa

Debra’s Midweek Meditation

 

In the darkness of the evening
The eyes of my heart are awake to you.
In the quiet of the night I long to hear
Intimations of your love.
In the sufferings of the world and the struggles of my life
I seek your graces of healing.
At the heart of the brokenness around me
And in the hidden depths of my soul
I seek your touch of healing, O God,
For there you reside.
In the hidden depths of life, O God,
There you reside.
                                Celtic Prayer

What seem our worst prayers may really be, in God's eyes, our best.
Those, I mean, which are least supported by devotional feeling.
For these may come from a deeper level than feeling.
God sometimes seems to speak to us most intimately when he catches us,
as it were, off our guard.
                                                                CS Lewis