God With Us

Posted by Lois Hansen

The following blog thoughts were written for Thanksgiving, but they seem appropriate for Advent as well. After all, without God's presence, what have we got?

A Serving of Ambivalence with My Thanksgiving Turkey

The article below caught my attention. As a middle-aged, single woman, I am learning about the joys of the "improvised family." It's still a little scary, though, as I will soon be living alone for the first time in my life.

Single D.C. women spend holiday with "improvised family"

This Thanksgiving, I will have the pleasure of spending the day with my four young adult children. We also will host my soon-to-be single friend, Nancy, and her elderly mother. Nancy's three children will spend Thanksgiving with their father (it's his turn); and, only five miles away, my children will spend the holiday with Nancy's children's grandmother. It's not that I'm not grateful for this improvised family, but traditional holidays always seem to shine light on thwarted or broken relationships.

I wonder if the Puritans, while thanking God for their community, shelter, and food, simultaneously grieved the loss of loved ones left behind in England and Holland and the death of relatives and friends who had succumbed to starvation and disease during the harsh Massachusetts' winters. Among them were children who would never hug their grandparents and parents who would never hold their children. They had been through innumerable hardships and had learned of God's deep, abiding care in the midst of them. They had much for which to be thankful. But, I have to believe their thankfulness was mixed with mourning. As mine will be.

Acknowledgment of Dependence

The good news is that thankfulness is not an emotion. Thankfulness is an acknowledgment of our dependence--our total lack of control. Life is filled with blessings and loss. Every physical blessing will someday be a loss. Truly, the only thing that remains is "God with us." I'm sure the Puritans knew this. Somehow, with all that stripping of the temporal, they clung to that which was most important--God's presence with them.

So, this Thanksgiving when I sit at the table and look with joy on my semi-improvised family and partake in the communal meal, I will be most grateful that God is there with us. And that is enough.