Wednesday Word: The Time of Thanksgiving
Two weeks ago, I wrote about time and how our concept and perception of time played into our lives. I talked about visiting a friend without your watch, and of having your time in church focused on what you put into worship rather than what you get out of it.
In discussing time and church, the author of Life on the Vine used the example of Thanksgiving. To paraphrase, when we visit friends or family for Thanksgiving, we don’t pay attention to the clock. Unless we have to make a run to the airport, we don’t come into a Thanksgiving event with the expectation that it will be over in an hour and a half. Our expectation is to arrive mid-morning or early afternoon, to help prepare a meal, to visit with people, maybe to play a few games, to share that meal, maybe watch a football game, help clean up, and then say our goodbyes sometime later that evening.
In the best of circumstances there is no drama, there are no worries about how long one stays, there is plenty of fellowship, and everyone shares a good meal.
Church should be the same way.
Our Sunday liturgy is called “The Holy Eucharist.” Eucharist is a Greek word meaning “thanksgiving.” Our Sunday liturgy is literally, “The Holy Thanksgiving.” Everything we do on Sunday is done in thanksgiving: We give thanks to God for the Holy Scriptures which we have received over the ages, and we give thanks for the sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood in which we partake as a foretaste of the heavenly banquet.
Every Sunday is a time of Thanksgiving in which we leave the time constraints of the world behind and enter into God’s time – a time of mystery, fellowship, and the sharing and partaking of a holy meal.
May we learn to treat the Holy Eucharist, the Holy Thanksgiving, with the same excitement and involvement as we treat our own Thanksgiving Day in November.
Blessings,
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