Oct. 15, 2014

If you observe the following, you can be saved:  Be joyful at all times, pray without ceasing and give thanks for all things. – Abba Benjamin

This is a deceptively hard thing to do: to be continuously joyful, prayerful and thankful.

What does it mean to be joyful?  Joy is sometimes used as a synonym for happy.  But that's not always correct.  Happy is a passing emotion.  I am happy it rained after a long drought.  I am happy it's sunny after days of gray clouds.  I am happy when my husband remembers our anniversary.  I am happy when someone does something unexpectedly nice.

Joy, on the other hand, is found in everlasting contentment.  A long relationship can bring joy.  We experience the joy of our children over their lifetimes.  And we find joy in the knowledge that we are children of God, no matter what outside circumstances face us.  Joy asks us to work at that long relationship with God, safe in the knowledge that we are loved abundantly.

Prayer, as I wrote last week, is hard work and a great struggle.  And it is necessary.  We wouldn't think of ignoring our spouse after the wedding.  We wouldn't think of interacting with our spouse only one day a week.  But how often do we interact with God that very same way?  People get baptized and then disappear from the church.  Or people attend church regularly, but relegate their time with God to those few 60 or 90 minutes a week.  If we want our human relationships to deepen and strengthen, we work at them.  Continual prayer is one way to deepen and strengthen our spiritual relationship with God.

Giving thanks for all things can also be difficult.  It's easy to give thanks for the things we think we want and got, or to give thanks when things have a rosy outlook.  But roses have thorns.  Do we give thanks for just the flower, or do we give thanks for the entire plant?  Amid life's daily struggles, amid death and distress and feelings of hopelessness, giving continual thanks is hard work.

It's easy to get bogged down in all the negativity.  If we look around, though, we will find plenty for which to give thanks.  We are children of a loving God who created us and this world out of immense love.  We have families and friends whom we love and who love us back.  We are part of a welcoming parish family that is reaching out to impact lives at Ft. Vannoy.  The trick to giving thanks, I think, is to look for all the many little positive things that continually work to nip away at the few and seemingly overwhelming negative things.  In other words, it's all in our perspective.

Be joyful at all times, pray without ceasing, and give thanks for all things.  Hard work to be sure; but it's that work that helps us live in a better place.

Amen.