When I look out over our little piece of rented land, my initial thought is to thank the Holy Three (Wisdom, Yahweh, Jesus) for the access we have to this restorative, healing, beauty. Yet, I've noticed that my prayers are not always of gratitude for its beauty, but that I have access to it. That I have been blessed to live in this country that is safe from war and chaos. We don't have the Taliban here-- thank you that I can walk out my door and feel safe. That I have food in my cupboard and on our table. Thank you, for your blessings, for all your abundant blessings.
This year, however, Wisdom has been guiding me away from these prayers of gratitude. These blessings, She emphasizes gently but firmly, are in fact, privilege. They are not Our doing.
Truth whispers deep.
I live in a country with astounding beauty and abounding resources, yet my ancestors came at a time when it was easy to immigrate onto land that was taken from others less powerful than they; whose children's voices were hidden. buried. now silent.
We bless the meek. They will inherit the earth.
It's easy to live peacefully in a country that helps provide for its citizens off the financial rewards of selling weapons to countries in turmoil. How many, how many, victims of silent drones and torture behind the great veil, have been sacrificed for this peace?
We bless the peacemakers. They belong to us.
It's easy to live comfortably when we operate out of a system that dictates which professions are of greater monetary value than others. The one called to caring professions such as child or elderly care are deemed less valuable, and therefore will have fewer "blessings" or goods, or opportunties, than the tech entrepreneur or the surgeon.
We bless those who hunger and thirst for Wisdom. They will be satisfied.
It's easy to live abundantly off the laboring of those in countries far away from our sensitive eyes. Am I, are we, some how more loved, more cherished and cared for than they. Are the privileged really more deserving than the one working three jobs just to pay their rent?
We bless the poor. They see Us. And We bless those who show mercy.
Listening to Wisdom shifts my prayers this Thanksgiving. Yes, I still have a desire to count my blessings, but the question becomes, whose blessings? I want to be blessed by the Holy Three and its clear that these blessings don't appear in the form of privilege, power, or accumulation of goods. Their blessings lead us to repentance and a desire to share the privileges given by the injust systems that rule us (Ephesians 2:2).
Wisdom. This land, this little pond of ours, that snow covered mountain I see from this window. I am grateful that You have given this gift of life and restorative wholeness to all of us. Have mercy on us, for our participation in this broken system we've been born and nurtured into, that allows, encourages even, some to steal and hoard these gifts for themselves. Holy Trinity, have mercy on all of us for our addiction to the comforts of consumerism and our theologies of "me" that blind us. Speak to us now in our silence, as you sit here among us. Purify our hearts so we can see you. Reveal to us, practical mercy, for today. Reveal to us practical steps for restoring relationships with those we (and our ancestors) have taken from. We choose peace through the lens of human flourishing for all, that comes from you. Have mercy on all of us for failing to do this a 1000 times. Help us to find our way, stumbling, to You, through them. For the sake of all your beloved, everywhere.
Break bread together. Drink good wine. Laugh too much. And remember to whom it is we belong.
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