“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity” – Simone Weil
“The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world” – Plato
“When given the choice between being right or being kind choose kind.” – from the book Wonder, by R.J. Palacio
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” – Paul, in Ephesians 4:32
“Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?” – guardian angel Clarence Oddbody, in It’s a Wonderful Life
Merry Christmas to all my readers – first timers, occasional passersby, and a handful of regulars!
Often the writers of the Psalms aren’t just trying to teach us about God, but they are trying to share their experience of Him. As in Psalm 96 and 100, included in earlier posts, Psalm 136 opens with encouragement, or even instructions, to join the Psalmist in thanksgiving:
“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever” – Psalm 136:1-3
All 26 verses of this Psalm end with the phrase “for his steadfast love endures forever,” following something about God that is worthy of praise and thanksgiving. This constant repetition is a reminder that it is “his steadfast love” for His people that drives His acts of creation, His works in history, and ultimately His death on the cross. His works are all done by a person, for a people. What God really desires is relationship with us. We are not alone in the universe.
Giving thanks only makes sense if someone exists to thank, who is good, and has the power to provide what we are thankful for. If creation is a mere accident, if wicked acts are never corrected and righteous acts are never rewarded, and if mankind can only hope in themselves, there is no reason to give thanks to someone, or something, else. Many religions seem to acknowledge this, giving personality and reverence to created things – trees, the sun, the harvest, and so on – but in Christ we can know the Person who is behind it all, and who actually is a Person that loves us.
Therefore, today give thanks to the Lord who is good, and is above any god or lord of this world. As we celebrate Thanksgiving today in the United States, be thankful above all else that Someone exists to thank, that He is good, and that He has the power, and love, needed to care for His people. Now and forever.
Amen.
Earlier posts on Participating in the Psalms are here, here, and here.
There are a lot of different perspectives on truth. Truth of the way the world is. Truth of the way it should be. Gospel Truth. But this Father’s Day, I’ll focus on one particular truth:
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” – James 1:27
This verse tells us that God the Father has a special place for those who don’t have an earthly father. He will be Father to them. It tells us to be Jesus to the widows and orphans, showing them the Way to, and the love of, their Father. There is a reason the Lord’s Prayer starts with “Our Father” – because ultimately all depends on Him.
Many in the world reject God as Father because of the failure of fathers in the world. The Old Testament of the Bible is not full of great examples of parents, but rather shows people with all their flaws and warts, who by God’s grace became part of God’s plan to use sinners to reach sinners. To become the Father of His eternal people, despite the failure of His people to be good fathers. There are no Godly offspring without the sacrifice of Jesus. There is no human Jesus without a genealogy of sinners. There are none to inhabit heaven without the sacrifice of a human Jesus, God’s only Son, given for you.
This Father’s Day, take every opportunity to be grateful for fathers, for parents, for those who take on parenthood in other ways, but also think about those who have no earthly provision. Because those who see Jesus see the Father, help people see Jesus. God’s purpose for Godly offspring will be fulfilled and praise Him that you have the awesome responsibility and opportunity to be a part of that work.
Fathers matter. You matter. To God and to others. Whoever you are.
Some years ago, I was a new dad. I also had a full-time job with a 1 ½ hour each way commute and was getting an MBA. As you may guess, time was at a premium for me.
My conscience, which I call my “Moral GPS,” was getting inputs from a couple of places. First was a coworker I’ll call “Steve”. He was a senior person at the non-profit where I was working at the time, had a book at his desk called “God’s Instruction Book for Dads”, and liked to speak his mind. He once told me his teenage daughter refused to ever talk to him, which he brushed off as “typical teenager”. What made that comment more interesting was that I later mentioned making sure to leave work in time to see my daughter before she went to sleep. She was only a few months old at the time. “Steve” asked me “what do you want to waste your time with that for? She won’t remember any of it!”
The other voice, and the one I listened to, was my wife. Any opportunity where I was home, and our daughter needed a bath or a book read to her, or anything, my wife often suggested I do it. “You’ll regret it if you don’t”. Of course, her voice aligned with “the right thing to do” and so I did my school or work at other times. I didn’t get fired, and I graduated in time. But, most importantly, I just told this story about Steve and mom to my daughter when she was almost an adult, as we were talking and having pancakes together for dinner[1]. Relationships take time, and they also take a commitment to sorting out the numerous influences in your conscience and choosing what glorifies God.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a perfect dad, but actions have consequences, and we shouldn’t take anything for granted. Fathers and mothers matter, and they sometimes need encouragement and reminders to be good parents. I once had a conversation with someone right before Father’s Day who said he wasn’t needed anymore because his kid was now a teenager. This was a lie. I told him that he mattered to his son and always will.
This Father’s Day, show someone specific that they are a priority, no matter what others might say or think!
In an essay in The Weight of Glory[1], C.S. Lewis wrote: “the sun looks down on nothing half so good as a household laughing together over a meal, or two friends talking over a pint of beer, or a man alone reading a book that interests him.” As we celebrate Memorial Day here in the United States, I pray you can enjoy what matters most to you and give thanks for others who sacrificed to made it possible.
In the same essay, Lewis says “all economies, politics, laws, armies, and institutions, save insofar as they prolong and multiply such scenes, are a mere ploughing the sand and sowing the ocean.” These cannot deliver our salvation, yet they are absolutely necessary in this life. These institutions have “no higher end than to facilitate and safeguard the family, and friendship, and solitude.” Therefore, give thanks whenever peace and fellowship are possible, and pray for those living in places where they are not.
The essay also includes this quote: “do not let us mistake necessary evils for good.” What did Lewis mean? That when things that exist to provide “family, and friendship, and solitude” become an end in themselves “what was undertaken for the sake of health has become itself a new and deadly disease.” While these things are absolutely needed, we should think of them “only in order to be able to think of something else.” On the other hand, “a sick society must think much about politics.” Therefore, give thanks for those who faithfully serve, and for preservation of the freedoms you enjoy.
Most importantly on Memorial Day, give thanks for those who gave up their lives so those they left behind could enjoy “family, and friendship, and solitude.” Without their sacrifice, we could not celebrate Memorial Day, or any other day. “Great sacrifices of this private happiness by those who have it may be necessary in order that it may be more widely distributed.”
Jesus said: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) As He gave His life for you, pray also for the ability, willingness, and freedom to sacrifice your own time and talents for others.
[1] Lewis, C.S. The Weight of Glory (1941). P. 161-162.
Driving Toward the Morning Sun 