A Theology of Peace
November 26th, 2009THANKSGIVING DAY (U.S.)
Thursday’s Reflection
MY THEOLOGY OF PEACE is rooted in thanks. I know one thing for sure: when I’m up to my eyeballs in dirty dishes and leftover turkey parts, and when I look through my house to witness the collective noise of twentysome family and friends enjoying boisterous communion in the name of gratitude, then I feel my heart burst in a kind of deeply peaceful thanksgiving.
- Derek Maul
In My Heart I Carry a Star: Stories for Advent
From p. 64 of In My Heart I Carry a Star: Stories for Advent by Derek Maul. Copyright © 2008 by the author. Used with permission of Upper Room Books. All rights reserved. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Advent begins on Sunday. Join Beth Richardson for daily reflection and conversation at unclutteredheart.org.
Today’s Question
What are you grateful for today? Share your reflections.
Today’s Scripture Reading
Forgive the sins and errors of my youth. In your constant love and goodness, remember me, Lord!
- Psalm 25:7, GNT
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for an “attitude of gratitude” — all year long. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Advent Top 10. Advent begins this coming Sunday. Top 10 Reasons to Celebrate Advent.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember John Knox (November 24).
- Lectionary Readings:
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November 26th, 2009 at 3:34 am
Today is not celebrated as Thanksgiving in my country, but God has made every day a thanksgiving day when he loved a sinner like me and saved me with the blood of his son. May I show my gratitude today and every day by showing others the way to find his grace. And thanks that I have enough food to dirty a dish today. Help us to not indulge ourselves but to share with all. Thanks Lord for loving us and we love you too. Amen
November 26th, 2009 at 5:08 am
I am grateful to be my Father’s child. What an unmerited gift, each day. Father – thank You for your relentless love. For pursuing me, for tracking me down, for sustaining me. Father – continue to mold me into Your idea of who I am to be.
I am also grateful for a day that will have an abundance of family – healthy family – and an abundance of food. Father – give me a compassionate heart, to share my over-abundance with those in need.
Father – now in this moment – I am humbled by how truly blessed I am by You.
November 26th, 2009 at 6:21 am
I am so grateful for another Thanksgiving Day to spend with my family.
I’m grateful for the Lord’s grace, mercy and love for me. He has given me my life back and freed me from the bondage of drug addiction…without Him, this wouldn’t have been possible.
But most importantly, I’m grateful for this new life, a life that I can be proud of. Because He loves me, I am His.
Happy Thanksgiving.
November 26th, 2009 at 8:06 am
When my mom moved to this area ten yrs ago, we began a tradition of shopping, chopping and cooking thanksgiving together. What a treat since when a child, I was not that involved before I left home at 18. Then we mostly chatted by phone about recipes old and new. Those precious years together before her death last February was a joyful reunion. Even though she was less involved the last few years due to alzheimers, she was here for us to love and care for. I’m trying to balance grief with gratfulness that I had her, that she had us. As I clean the greens and begin the turkey watch, I will think of a way to honor her and all my family past.
November 26th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Give thanks with a grateful heart.
For friends I have met and those I only know through virtual community such as this.
For family, near and far, those present today and those saints long absent from our table.
For plenty. For enough.
For eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart that aches for God’s children who are in need– whatever their need might be.
Praises always to our faithful, loving, perfect God, without whom nothing is possible– and with whom all things are possible.
Happy day of thanks, friends. May your soul be filled with the unsurpassed peace that comes from knowing Jesus Christ. Amen.
November 26th, 2009 at 9:42 am
God’s love and grace, my family and my friends. My church and my opportunity to serve.
November 26th, 2009 at 10:41 am
For a loving God who brings peace out of chaos and joy out of sorrow.
November 26th, 2009 at 11:09 am
This year God took away everything I took for granted and left me learning how to build again from the ground up. And I am so grateful he did. Because of what happened to us, I learned that the greatest things in life are family and friends. Joyous moments celebrating, even though we didn’t have a dime to our name, has left me with wonderful memories about how much I am loved and cared for. Now I am far away from my family at Thanksgiving but I know their love sustains me while I am here. And I will be able to be with them again soon. Thanks be to God!!
November 26th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I am grateful for my family,friends,health and job.I am blessed beyond any monetary amount. I am also grateful that my walk with the Lord gets stronger every day.
November 27th, 2009 at 12:56 am
I am grateful for my family and I am grateful for my life. Im grateful that i have people who love me and a God who will listen. Im grateful for community and Im grateful for silence. Im grateful fo rmy daily bread, the father son and holy ghost and life ever lasting.