THE RIGHT DECISION IS HARD

This Thanksgiving will be unlike any other. You’re probably tired of hearing that. I know I am. I’ll confess: one month ago we cancelled our plans to go to my parents for Thanksgiving. It was my wife’s idea—she works at several hospitals and saw the warning signs and knew it wouldn’t be safe to travel. I resented her for it. I cried. I want to see my family—no more of this silly Zoom--let’s get together in person. Yet I knew it was the right decision.  

Sometimes the right decision stinks. Several places at the table of my mom’s house will sit empty because we’re not there. But in the U.S. alone more than 250,000 spots will sit empty at tables this Thanksgiving—spots that will never be filled again as the coronavirus claims more and more lives. My wife made the right decision (and I really am tired of her always being right… but thank God for my wife).  

Real uplifting, Pr. Brandon. I know. But some of you are grieving because the Thanksgiving you hoped for and planned cannot happen. Maybe you didn’t have a whole month to brace yourself for the grief. Maybe your spouse isn’t a mental health professional (like mine) to help you through it. Not gathering for Thanksgiving is another loss on the mountain of losses we have experienced this year (ok, ok, Pr. Brandon… let’s turn the ship around here).  

So where do we go from here? Well, what if instead of complaining about what we don’t have or can’t do we started giving thanks for all that we DO have and all that we CAN do. We can still connect with others, some of us are still healthy and safe with warm homes and good food, we still have a God who loves us and cares about us and is working through scientists and health care professionals to bring healing and hope. The list goes on.  

Also I hope not everything about your Thanksgiving tradition gets thrown out with the placemats you won’t need this year. In fact, my mother-in-law is still providing a turkey J, football will be on the TV, candles will be lit, Black Friday ads will be scoured, we’ll give thanks, and I guarantee I’ll take a nap.  

In addition, If it helps, remember these tips from Pr. Sarah Ciavarri, Director of Spiritual Care at Augustana Care Center:

·      Breathe (as you breathe in think “Yah” and as you breathe out think “weh”, the Hebrew name for God)

·      Move (take a walk, stretch, etc.)

·      Gratitude (make a list and... why not check it twice?!?)

I am grateful for you, our amazing church, and all God has provided,

PB