{"id":621,"date":"2012-11-18T11:00:18","date_gmt":"2012-11-18T16:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/?p=621"},"modified":"2019-11-26T11:56:24","modified_gmt":"2019-11-26T16:56:24","slug":"a-thoughtful-thanksgiving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/2012\/11\/18\/a-thoughtful-thanksgiving\/","title":{"rendered":"A Thoughtful Thanksgiving"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Click here to hear the full service.<\/a><\/p>\n

Click here to hear the sermon only.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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We are not always as thoughtful as we could be, not as mindful as we should be\u2026<\/p>\n

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I can bear witness to this in my own experience\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then let us be thoughtful this Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let us be mindful of the goodness of God, as sung in the 100th<\/sup> Psalm\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let us be thoughtful this Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let us be mindful of the blessings of God, as sung in the beatitudes\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let us be thoughtful this Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let us be mindful of friendship, as was our friend Max Coots\u2026
\n“Let us give thanks for a bounty of people:<\/em><\/p>\n

For children who are our second planting, and though they grow like weeds and the wind too soon blows them away, may they forgive us our cultivation and fondly remember where their roots are….<\/em><\/p>\n

For generous friends with hearts and smiles as bright as their blossoms;<\/em><\/p>\n

For feisty friends as tart as apples;<\/em><\/p>\n

For continuous friends, who, like scallions and cucumbers, keep reminding us that we’ve had them;<\/em><\/p>\n

For crotchety friends, as sour as rhubarb and as indestructible;<\/em><\/p>\n

For handsome friends, who are as gorgeous as eggplants and as elegant as a row of corn, and the other, plain as potatoes and as good for you;<\/em><\/p>\n

For funny friends, who are as silly as Brussels Sprouts and as amusing as Jerusalem Artichokes, and serious friends, as complex as cauliflowers and as intricate as onions;<\/em><\/p>\n

For friends as unpretentious as cabbages, as subtle as summer squash, as persistent as parsley, as delightful as dill, as endless as zucchini, and who, like parsnips, can be counted on to see you through the winter;<\/em><\/p>\n

For old friends, nodding like sunflowers in the evening-time, and young friends coming on as fast as radishes;<\/em><\/p>\n

For loving friends, who wind around us like tendrils and hold us, despite our blights, wilts and witherings;<\/em><\/p>\n

And finally, for those friends now gone, like gardens past that have been harvested, and who fed us in their times that we might have life thereafter;<\/em><\/p>\n

For all these we give thanks.”<\/em><\/p>\n

by Reverend Max Coots<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let us be thoughtful this Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let us be mindful of the good earth, of the fruits of harvest, of the fruits of years of labor and love, as one remembered in the figure of her grandmother\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sitting by my window\u2014looking out at the field<\/em><\/p>\n

This chair has been such a comfort for so many years<\/em><\/p>\n

Rocking\u2014rocking<\/em><\/p>\n

All the children were comforted in this chair<\/em><\/p>\n

All grown and gone now<\/em><\/p>\n

Babies\u2014growing year after year<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Til they could go to the field to help<\/em><\/p>\n

The fields\u2014so green in the spring<\/em><\/p>\n

Then the plough broke it up into beautiful brown earth<\/em><\/p>\n

Worked over and over<\/em><\/p>\n

Until the seeds had a wonderful bed in which to grow<\/em><\/p>\n

Week after week growing<\/em><\/p>\n

And then harvest.<\/em><\/p>\n

We all went to the field for the harvest.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sunrise to sunset<\/em><\/p>\n

Day after day<\/em><\/p>\n

Finished at last<\/em><\/p>\n

Ready for winter<\/em><\/p>\n

Now looking across the field at beautiful virgin snow<\/em><\/p>\n

Like watching a baby sleep.\u00a0 So peaceful.<\/em><\/p>\n

Happy for the quiet.<\/em><\/p>\n

Anxious for the awakening <\/em><\/p>\n

Start again<\/em><\/p>\n

Sitting by my window<\/em><\/p>\n

Rocking Rocking<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

By Carol Zahm<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let us be mindful of the faithfulness of God, as we affirm at eventide\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If we believe that life has meaning and purpose<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

If we believe that the Giver of Life loves us<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

If we believe that divine love lasts<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

If we believe that justice, mercy, and humility endure<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

If we believe that God so loved the world to give God\u2019s only Son<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

If we believe that Jesus is the transcript in time of God in eternity<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

If we believe that all God\u2019s children are precious in God\u2019s sight<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

If we believe grace and forgiveness are the heart of the universe<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

If we believe that God has loved us personally<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

If we believe in God<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

Then we shall trust God over the valley of the shadow of death<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

Then we shall trust that love is stronger than death<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

Then we shall trust the mysterious promise of resurrection<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

Then we shall trust the faith of Christ, relying on faith alone<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

Then we shall trust the enduring worth of personality<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

Then we shall trust that just deeds, merciful words are never vain<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

Then we shall trust the Giver of Life to give eternal life <\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

Then we shall trust the source of love to love eternally<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

Then we shall trust that we rest protected in God\u2019s embrace<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do<\/em><\/p>\n

Then we shall trust in God<\/em><\/p>\n

And we do.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let us be thoughtful this Thanksgiving, mindful of the daily gifts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let us be mindful this Thanksgiving, as was Howard Thurman, who was a hundred years head of his time fifty years ago.\u00a0 His poem:<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today, I make my Sacrament of Thanksgiving.<\/em><\/p>\n

I begin with the simple things of my days:<\/em><\/p>\n

Fresh air to breathe,<\/em><\/p>\n

Cool water to drink,<\/em><\/p>\n

The taste of food,<\/em><\/p>\n

The protection of houses and clothes,<\/em><\/p>\n

The comforts of home.<\/em><\/p>\n

For all these I make an act of Thanksgiving this day!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

I bring to mind all the warmth of humankind that I have known:<\/em><\/p>\n

My mother\u2019s arms,<\/em><\/p>\n

The strength of my father<\/em><\/p>\n

The playmates of my childhood,<\/em><\/p>\n

The wonderful stories brought to me from the lives<\/em><\/p>\n

Of many who talked of days gone by when fairies<\/em><\/p>\n

And giants and all kinds of magic held sway;<\/em><\/p>\n

The tears I have shed, the tears I have seen;<\/em><\/p>\n

The excitement of laughter and the twinkle in the<\/em><\/p>\n

Eye with its reminder that life is good.<\/em><\/p>\n

For all these I make an act of Thanksgiving this day<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

I finger one by one the messages of hope that awaited me at the crossroads:<\/em><\/p>\n

The smile of approval from those who held in their hands the reins of my security;<\/em><\/p>\n

The tightening of the grip in a simple handshake when I<\/em><\/p>\n

Feared the step before me in darkness;<\/em><\/p>\n

The whisper in my heart when the temptation was fiercest<\/em><\/p>\n

And the claims of appetite were not to be denied;<\/em><\/p>\n

The crucial word said, the simple sentence from an open<\/em><\/p>\n

Page when my decision hung in the balance.<\/em><\/p>\n

For all these I make an act of Thanksgiving this day.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

I pass before me the main springs of my heritage:<\/em><\/p>\n

The fruits of labors of countless generations who lived before me,<\/em><\/p>\n

Without whom my own life would have no meaning;<\/em><\/p>\n

The seers who saw visions and dreamed dreams;<\/em><\/p>\n

The prophets who sensed a truth greater than the mind could grasp<\/em><\/p>\n

And whose words would only find fulfillment<\/em><\/p>\n

In the years which they would never see;<\/em><\/p>\n

The workers whose sweat has watered the trees,<\/em><\/p>\n

The leaves of which are for the healing of the nations;<\/em><\/p>\n

The pilgrims who set their sails for lands beyond all horizons,<\/em><\/p>\n

Whose courage made paths into new worlds and far off places;<\/em><\/p>\n

The saviors whose blood was shed with a recklessness that only a dream<\/em><\/p>\n

Could inspire and God could command.<\/em><\/p>\n

For all this I make an act of Thanksgiving this day.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

I linger over the meaning of my own life and the commitment<\/em><\/p>\n

To which I give the loyalty of my heart and mind:<\/em><\/p>\n

The little purposes in which I have shared my loves,<\/em><\/p>\n

My desires, my gifts;<\/em><\/p>\n

The restlessness which bottoms all I do with its stark insistence<\/em><\/p>\n

That I have never done my best, I have never dared<\/em><\/p>\n

To reach for the highest;<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

The big hope that never quite deserts me, that I and my kind<\/em><\/p>\n

Will study war no more, that love and tenderness and all the<\/em><\/p>\n

inner graces of Almighty affection will cover the life of the<\/em><\/p>\n

children of God as the waters cover the sea.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

All these and more than mind can think and heart can feel,<\/em><\/p>\n

I make as my sacrament of Thanksgiving to Thee,<\/em><\/p>\n

Our Father, in humbleness of mind and simplicity of heart.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

~The Rev. Dr. Robert Allan Hill, Dean of Marsh Chapel<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click here to hear the full service. Click here to hear the sermon only.   We are not always as thoughtful as we could be, not as mindful as we should be\u2026   I can bear witness to this in my own experience\u2026   Then let us be thoughtful this Thanksgiving.   Let us be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2679,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2679"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2497,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621\/revisions\/2497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}