November 26, 2008
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Rev. Sally Iberg
Minister for Mission and Ministry
Glenview Community Church, United Church of Christ

Readings:
Abraham caused God's name to be mentioned by all the travellers whom he entertained. For after they had eaten and drunk, and when they arose to bless Abraham, he said to them, "Is it of mine that you have eaten? Surely it is of what belongs to God that you have eaten.  So praise and bless Him by whose word the world was created."                                                                                                                                                             Talmud, Sota 10b

For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by God's word and by prayer.                                                                                                                                                 1 Timothy 4:4-5

O you who believe! Eat of the good things that we have provided for you, and be grateful to God, if it is Him that you worship.                                                       Qur'an 2.172

What a blessing it is to minister to the people of God in a time such as this.  What a blessing it is to share in this interfaith service with women and men of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian faiths.  Tomorrow many of the tables at which we sit will overflow with good food.  We will gather with our family and friends from near and far.  We will eat too much, laugh too hard, and share in life’s blessings.

Tomorrow, some of us will serve the hungry, remembering what God has told us – that we must care for those who have not.  O. Henry tells a beautiful Thanksgiving story about a poor man who each year for nine years has met another man on a bench in a station in New York City.  The other man takes him to a nice restaurant and buys him a fabulous thanksgiving dinner.  The other man sits with him, but does not eat.  That’s how it has happened for nine years.

On this occasion the poor man has had the fortune of passing the home of another generous soul before he got to the station.  The habit of this family was to invite the first hungry person who came along to enter their home and feast until they were sated.  So the poor person is quite stuffed by the time he arrives at the station for the traditional thanksgiving meeting.  By and by the old man appears and they add the 10th year to this growing tradition.  Not without some deal of pain.  The poor man has started out stuffed only to become even more stuffed on this Thanksgiving day.  He thanked his host and they parted at the restaurant door.

The poor man was so stuffed that he barely got to the corner before he collapsed and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. An hour later another ambulance arrived, carrying the old man.  As it turns out the old man hadn’t eaten in three days. (O. Henry, “Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen”)

As O. Henry is wont to do, he ends the story there -- leaving us with a lovely, nineteenth century New York parable.  The old man took delight in this tradition he was establishing of taking care of someone else on this special holiday.  When he ran out of money to feed himself, he held on to the few coins that would ensure he could meet his acquaintance at the station and treat him to a lovely meal – even though his acquaintance was already overstuffed.

Thanksgiving is a time for us to practice – to practice what our religious traditions tell us to practice.  It is a time for us to say thank you and to remember to be grateful every day of the year for all of our blessings.  Some of us really do need to practice this good habit.  Perhaps we’re running too fast trying to keep up with all that we think we’re supposed to do.  We’re running too fast to remember to do these simple things that are really good for us. 

Peter Steinke, who helps congregations become healthier, reports that there are those who chart the effect of emotional states on physical health, noting that the two emotions that are most detrimental to health are vengeance and bitterness.  Conversely, the most nourishing attitude is gratitude.”  Being grateful, saying thank you, enhances our well-being!  (S. DeSimone, 11/2000, www.ucc.org)

You may have noticed articles in recent weeks referring to the research of Robert Emmons from the University of California at Davis.  He reports that gratitude is the “forgotten factor” in happiness research.  The findings are quite phenomenal.  For instance, those who keep gratitude journals exercised more, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives and were more optimistic about the future.  They were also more likely to progress toward important personal goals.  Based on Emmons research we would do well to celebrate Thanksgiving every day.  I don’t think this has to do with the meal, but it does have to do with the gratitude.  (http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/emmons)

You probably know some people who are clearly grateful for their lives.  You may be one of those people yourself.  I don’t think of myself that way.  I’m a fairly positive person, but I have to work to remember to see all that is wonderful going on around me.  Maybe you have to work at that too.  And certainly, in times such as these when the market is in the dumpster, we’re involved in at least two wars, and way too many people are without food or clean water or a safe place to live or health care or education – at times like these perhaps we can be forgiven for having to work at being grateful.  But the research suggests that we would do well to be grateful.  And our religious traditions tell us the same thing.

I have a friend, a very dear woman, whom I’ve known since I was in high school.  She worked in the school office.  Her family welcomed many of my classmates into their home.  They were gracious.  For her 90th birthday my friend parachuted out of a small plane for the first time in her life.  She is full of life. Over the years I got to hear more of her story.

When she was very young her mother died and her siblings were sent to various family members to live.  My friend and one of her sisters were sent to an orphanage for a year until a family member was able to take them in.  As a young adult she moved to Chicago where she worked and met her future husband.  After they married they moved to the suburbs and raised their children. 

Her daughter was in her early twenties when she died in a motorcycle accident, leaving a 2-year old son.  My friend’s son died in his thirties in an airplane crash.  Her husband became disabled during an operation and died several years later.  My friend has lived alone for the past 20 years.

The challenges this woman faced were overwhelming and yet she wasn’t overwhelmed.  We were talking about this during our most recent lunch date.  She spoke of all of these things without bitterness.  And then she said how grateful she is for the wonderful life she has led.  My friend is an inspiration to me.  She shows me how to be grateful for all that is good in life.  She shows me how to live thanks. 

On this thanksgiving, as you gather with family and friends may you find those who inspire you to live thanks.