| Editorial: Four short meditations of thankfulness
For the grace of every new morning
Waking up to the sound of an alarm when we would rather stay in bed is not a time we typically think we should be thankful for. Often enough the dull and monotonous routine of the early morning carries us through our waking hours in a half-conscious state. Little attention is paid to the light creeping in through the gaps in our bedroom curtains, and little heed is given to the simple fact that we did indeed wake up and arise from our beds.
But each new day is an awe-inspiring gift, for we have been most graciously given a present to unwrap: a new day within the majesty and the beauty and the awe of the Kingdom of God. We have been entrusted with the privilege of living amongst a Creation that reflects the beauty of its Creator.
And yet we take this gift, this present, for granted, and squander it for the monotony of the morning without bothering to stop and look around for a brief minute and offer a prayer:
Thank you, beloved Creator, for blessing me with another day in your Kingdom. Thank you for the gift of life and the chance to step into the world that you have created. Let me be awed and amazed at all the ways in which you have made it beautiful.
For the mystery of the people around us
Walking down the street or along the paths of campus, a myriad of people (perhaps thousands of them a day!) go wandering past us. We may recognize a few and greet them. We might stare quizzically at a few others. We might tip our hat or smile and nod at a face we don’t know. Perhaps the other face will smile and nod back.
We know so very little about many of the people who go past us – where they might be going, who they might be seeing, who they go home to be with at night, or who they love with a passion that can never be put into words.
And yet so many of these people impact our lives – some will become friends, others business partners or church partners. Some may render us aid when we are in need. Some may simply pay us a quick smile that causes a chirp of happiness to come across us. We could chalk all of these relationships up to chance, but perhaps we could instead offer a thankful prayer:
Dear Lord, for both the people I will know today and the ones I will only just meet, I thank you for flavoring my life with the opportunity they represent. For all of them, I would ask your watchful eye over them and over those they care for. Thank you for being gracious to us all.
For the sustenance of food and drink
If we are running late in the morning, we will perhaps grab an energy bar or a piece of fruit to eat on our way. If we are busy at lunch, we will perhaps snatch up a cold-cut sandwich and a bag of chips. If we are distracted at dinner, we will perhaps heat up a tray of pre-prepared television dinner.
But if we stop to think about what we are so easily consuming, the magnitude of what it really represents should seem astonishing. We are endowed with food that is as much a pleasure as a commodity. Yet we are among the top percentage of those in the world who are blessed with food. Items we pass up as “unappetizing” at a cafeteria would be not only appetizing but life-sustaining for billions of other people elsewhere in the world. We cannot know for what reason we are so richly blessed, but we can offer a prayer:
Sustaining and nurturing Spirit, I thank you so very greatly for the small offering you have put before me. I mourn sadly that even as I eat, others go hungry, and I pray for your guidance and justice that we would be able to bring equality to this challenging imbalance. But even so, I thank you for this meal, and ask that you would not let me stumble to the point where I take it for granted. Thank you for this blessing.
For the enrichment of education and the school
Classes are attended to daily by most students and professors. Assignments are given and reviewed. New voices of experience and challenge speak out from the pages of books and from the mouths of educators. Behind them, a core of administrative professionals keep watch over a small area of detail that – if overlooked – would have made the entire process impossible.
All of this takes place within the sturdy walls of a building, across the rolling hills of a cozy campus. But far from being quaint, the future of an entire world and generation is being formulated here. Some of it is being done analytically, some empirically, and still more is being done dialectically. For those who are both learning and teaching (the two are really the same thing), the infinite fascinations of a majestic Creation are just beginning to reveal themselves. We should gratefully offer this prayer:
Wise and Benevolent Father, it is in you we first learned and for you alone that we continue. You have enriched us with a gift where we can teach and be taught, and where we can see the light that is made light in Your light. Be with this school and all who are a part of it, and may you anoint Your entire Creation through the workings of this institution.
-cb
|
