Thanksgiving is a time when we traditionally reflect on our blessings, Blessings. It’s a word we trip off our tongues easily enough: “Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts…” We bless ourselves with the sign of the cross, and say “God bless you” when someone sneezes. But this thanksgiving I want to turn your minds and hearts to see blessing differently. I want you to see blessing not as words that we say or something that one person gives another. Rather, I ask you to think of blessing as “being together in kindness.” Yes, I want you to see that blessing is not something you do, but as something you are to one another. I want you to see that blessing is a moment of meeting, a relationship that acknowledges one’s worth, it is being together in kindness.For decades, a nationwide company had the tradition to handout to their employees $25 food vouchers to buy the family turkey for Thanksgiving. The company was looking for ways to cut benefits to improve their bottom line. They agreed to eliminate the Thanksgiving food voucher when one member’s of the leadership team shared: “You guys are not in touch.”
Our loyal people have been working for this company for decades, They work long hours in a cold warehouse for $7.50 and hour. Then they go home to take care of their children and pay their bills. When they get that food voucher, it’s like gold. This means they can go and buy a turkey and enjoy a warm meal with their family. You don’t see the smile on their faces when they get that letter. I know for a fact that one of the best things we do in this company for our people is show our appreciation to those who give us their best throughout the year. So despite our need to cut costs this year, I say we need to keep this benefit.
The other executives might have felt uncomfortable, but no one voted to discontinue the benefit. So the smiles will continue for one more year because this kind leader understood the meaning of gratitude and what it can do for the hearts of people who feel special and appreciated for their hard work.
Yes, people are treasures to us, are blessings to us. So this Thanksgiving is a good time to remember and cherish the people in our lives who, in need and in deed, in sickness and in health, were with us in kindness and let us know we count.
Thanksgiving is a time to remember those who have attached words to us, words like “May I help” “And I’m right here,” and “Blessed are you”; and labels like friend, beloved, special, lover, the best, treasure, one in a million, heart of my heart. We may have been, and maybe are “just old school friends,” but from those who have been together with us in kindness we learned that we each are a special indeed.
Today, then, while we will thank God for many things, let us remember people, especially those who have been with us in kindness and who, in that encounter, have blessed us.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends on this Thanksgiving Day that they realize how special they are in my daily life. Please share the following table blessing with your family and friends. Blessings to All, Fr, Matt
To our friends who have become family and our family who have become friends. God of joy and happiness, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Thank you for our family, our friends, our pets, and for every other living creature we meet along our journey.
Thank you for giving us hope for an end to world suffering, pain, and war, for a beginning of a world filled with light and everlasting love. And for the kindness of an unexpected dinner invitation, for a letter unforeseen, for the sunlight bursting through thick clouds, for a request to "come along,” for all the wonderful surprises of life we give you thanks, O God of joy. Amen.
