I GIVE THANKS

Dear Friends in Christ:

Recently I saw an ad on TV in which one of the actors said, “Thankfully everything turned out O.K.” The English major in me spotted the error quickly – does the adverb “thankfully” really modify the verb “turned out”? The theologian in me took a little longer to see what was really wrong with the sentence.

“Thankfully” and “hopefully” are so common in American speaking– and sometimes, writing – that we may not see them for what they really are. Perhaps because we have been taught that avoiding saying “I…” is a sign of modesty, we fall into the habit of saying “thankfully” when we really mean is “I am thankful…” Or do we mean it? Do we say “thankfully” because we think someone ought to be thankful, but we’re not quite sure that we are? Or because to say, “I am thankful…” may reveal too much about ourselves and the things that really matter to us?

In this month that begins with All Saints Day – when we give thanks for Saints past and present – and ends with our national holiday of Thanksgiving, I want to make my thanks-giving personal, so here are just a few of the many thanks for which I am thankful:

v I give thanks for my colleagues Bob Knepel and amos acree, pastors of Immanuel Lutheran Church and the East Aurora Christian Church. On many days, these friends join us for Morning Prayer in the Chapel and on one day in October I was struck by how wonderful it was that in our intercessions we were praying for congregations in the Episcopal Church, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Christian Church-Disciples of Christ and the United Church of Christ. I give thanks for the Spirit’s gift of unity.

v I give thanks for the presence of Father Bill, Mother Frieda and Deacon Polly in the parish, and most especially at the altar and in the pulpit. We are blessed by the gifts that these three bring to our life together.

v I give thanks for Marilyn Cornelius, Joel Franklin, the Adult Choir, the Choristers and all the other musicians who offer their gifts each week.

v I give thanks for our Church School teachers, the members of the Altar Guild and the seventy-five parishioners of all ages who serve as Lectors, Eucharistic Ministers and Visitors, Acolytes, Ushers and Sunday offering counters.

I hope that all of us in this month of Thanksgiving will make lists like this – and longer ones – of all the reasons we have to give thanks and will share our lists of thanks-giving with others, especially with those for whom we give thanks.

 Your brother and priest,
Daniel