Happy Thanksgiving weekend. For many of us in this part of the world, the changing colours, the cooling mornings, the mist over the water, the ripeness of the food all bring comfort, draw us together in family and among friends, and can be nostalgic. We remember all the past gatherings, and those who came before us.
Faith and memory are deeply connected. Moses stood on the banks of the Jordon River having led the people out of Egypt, out of slavery, and having wandered in the wilderness of 40 years, dreaming of the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey. His big message to them… remember!
These days it is hard to hear this story of our faith set in that place without seeing the images of destruction to that very land and those very peoples who inhabited that land before the great first migration, and ever since. The land flowing with milk and honey is dry and smoky and violent these days.
On that ancient day when Moses stood with the migrant band and looked across, he said to them, “it will be tempting to think you got here all on your own, proudly trumpeting your own virtue, and your own power. Don’t let that happen. Remember. Remember how you wandered. Remember how God led and sustained you. Remember.”
This Thanksgiving, may we remember God. May we remember our ancestors. May we remember the land upon which we depend. May we remember where we came from. And my we be thankful.
Blessings
Will.