November 27, 2014
(Thanksgiving Day)
And now, bless the God of all, who has done wondrous things on earth; who fosters people’s growth from their mother’s womb, and fashions them according to his will! May he grant you joy of heart and may peace abide among you; may his goodness toward us endure in Israel to deliver us in our days. Sir 50:22-24
Happy Thanksgiving, beloved!
Having originally come from New Jersey and being away for quite a long, long time and then returning, I never look forward to the traffic, the crowds and the attitudes. But, you know what, it’s funny, you just don’t see the attitudes you used to there any more. We’ve gone from much more personal people-to-people relationships, where the least wrong look on a face to the least wrong move of the shopping cart would provoke feelings of personal attack (or occasional kindness) from others, to lives where everyone had a phone glued to their ears and were not even caring about others looks or actions because they were so fully attentive to someone else on their cells. But today, even that behavior is out-dated. Today everyone has their “smart” phones propped in front of them and are busily tapping away with their thumbs to even notice anyone else in their vicinity.
And you know what the really cool thing about it all was? Today, when you’re in an airport and everyone is so self-immersed in their tapping, if you gently begin an interrupting conversation and ask people about themselves – they seem to be thrilled that anyone else cares enough to ask!!!
And wallah, you’ve made a new friend – even IF, you never learn each others’ names. Seems in the past, at least for me, that was a quite impossible thing to accomplish!
We, or at least I, tended to look at all this new “communication – or non-communication” technology with a negative view. What ever happened to people talking to one another face to face? But, through this trip, I’ve come to see it all in a different light. Just like Jesus in all of our hearts, we all have this need for communion with one another. We have a need to know that we are important – even if we may feel we’re not.
My last minute trip to northern New Jersey to visit my last remaining aunt on my dad’s large family side, at the death of her husband, just two days before Thanksgiving, when my own kids were coming home from all over the country to visit me and Mary Ann, was maybe a little crazy. It was maybe a little expensive, even though CheapOAir helped a little on that. And it was even a little crazier, when after the booking I found out that there was supposed to be a major snowstorm brewing in the northeast exactly when I would be there.
But it was worth every penny to see the surprise on my cousin’s faces that I came all the way from Missouri to see them, to be one of the only three cousins (besides Aunt Ro’s own kids) to have made the effort, and to be the representative of our immediate family to give my family’s and my sisters’ regards and love.
And maybe getting lost in the snowstorm, maybe having the return flight cancelled, and maybe even just catching a few winks as I stayed all night in the Newark Airport were well worth the price to let my aunt and cousins know that they ARE important enough to receive a visit from Jesus working through me . . .
All in Praise and Thanksgiving for HIS blessings upon us all, beloved. Isn’t life awesome, when we do His bidding!
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Whispers to the Wind 