Thursday, November 22, 2007

Thanksgiving for the local church...

I absolutely love this - it's very close to the essence of all I try, and fail, to do and be in this strange business of following our Lord. Bonhoeffer has very nearly nailed the whole thing about the local church, and why we so need it, and it so needs us. We mustn't forget that St. Francis began by repairing, literally, with his own hands, one tiny little broken down church...

Only he who gives thanks for little things receives the big things. We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts he has in store for us, because we do not give thanks for daily gifts. We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measure of spiritual knowledge, experience and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly for the highest good. Then we deplore the fact that we lack the deep certainty, the strong faith and the rich experience that God has given to others, and we consider this lament to be pious. We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts. How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from him the little things? If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith and difficulty; if on the contrary we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.

From Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (SCM Press, 1963).

(With thanks to Vicki K Black)

7 comments:

June Butler said...

And you said you were mystified by the American Thanksgiving holiday? This quote from Bonhoeffer shows that you understand the holiday perfectly well, Mike.

Mike Farley said...

Oh I understand the theology, Mimi, if that's the right word for it, and I at least try to give thanks on that level all the time. It's actually a great thing to have a festival when everyone can get together and celebrate that together.

What I find mysterious are the cultural resonances. You say, "Thanksgiving", and a whole emotional world opens up for you that I have no co-ordinates for, no internal references... For the Americans I've known well, Thanksgiving as an occasion has been as much a feeling as a date, and it's a feeling I've never felt!

Jan said...

Thank you, Mike. Great quote. I always like the quotations you pick to post. Nice to see what you've written, too.

June Butler said...

Mike, in truth, the purpose of the holiday is to gather with family and friends, not so much to give thanks, as to get together to eat and enjoy each other's company. Aside from the short blessing, I don't hear much talk of thankfulness.

What you quoted from Bonhoeffer is what it should be, but then, as B. says, every day should be a day of thanksgiving.

You've made me think about the day in a way that I had not before, and I can well see how puzzling the holiday must seem to those outside the US, because, suddenly, it's puzzling to me. It's what we've always done.

Tomorrow is Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, the day when folks wrestle each other for the bargains in the crowded stores. It's obscene, really, and I will not be in the crowd.

Paul said...

Great quote from Bonhoeffer and Mimi is quite right: you get it. At least you get, and remind us all of, what it is supposed to be about. What it is... well, a time to gather with those one ostensibly loves and is loved by and go through a food and fellowship ritual. Each family tends to expect its particular ritual dishes and is satisfied thereby. Experimentation should be matched with great caution. We all tend to overindulge and comfort one another in the resultant affliction. For many the central event if football. Few eschew turkey and even those who never eat it otherwise expect it. Some, though not many, ponder what our European ancestors did to the indigenous peoples of this continent and regret it. All have been raised on pious jingoistic versions of the holiday that are mostly codswallop. It is very bizarre and unique to our nation--though giving thanks is universal.

Thanks for giving us all a thanksgiving treat.

Mike Farley said...

Thanks Paul!

Interesting how among all the "pious jingoistic codswallop" there remains the genuine love of family and friends, and real thanksgiving to be among them, notwithstanding the inevitable family corn-treading that must go on too.

We do all this family stuff at Christmas of course; and while we don't have your Black Friday, we have the January Sales, which are every bit as bad, I should imagine. People actually end up in A&E with broken bones, crush injuries, etc. Horrible. Jan and I avoid them entirely - in any case, the instinct for bargains can be assuaged with eBay these days, in far greater comfort and safety!

Paul said...

My ex and extended our enjoyment of the Twelve Days of Christmas by holding off until Epiphany or its eve to exchange gifts and, to the extent that we did not offend givers, as many presents as possible. This allowed us to shop the "post-Christmas" sales and get comfy sweaters or shirts for each other at 40-50% off. But the January sales here are less hectic than this weekend is. I went to work today and am not shopping at all this weekend.

Alas (or thank goodness) Thanksgiving and other holidays with friends has proven far more joyous than spending them with family. More warmth, more joy, more gratitude, more celebration, more laughter, more delight.