SPECTRUM: Being our better selves

I do not know and will never fully know all the forces that have made me the person I am. Family, teachers, ministers, country, education, parenthood, professional experiences, Christian Faith. The list is long. The final product is still in formation. Every day brings new insights into what life is about and the challenge to live it to its fullest.

It is now Thanksgiving season. The list of people I need to thank is endless. I am glad we have such a holiday. It takes me away from any thought of selfishness. It takes me into the realities of being a gift receiver. I am thankful. I feel I should go to a street corner and shout “thank you” for as long as I have breath.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus, wrote much of the material that makes up the New Testament, probably as much as one-third. Paul never met the teacher from Nazareth in flesh and blood. He had very little contact with the disciples of Jesus. He wrote as a theologian rather than a historian. When looking for the Jesus of history, a scholar spends little time with Paul’s writings. Paul shaped much of the theology that is embraced by Christians to this day. I bring up Paul in the context of Thanksgiving because he understood the power of being thankful.

Paul roamed the world with his version of the Christian message. He was well educated and wrote voluminously. He ended up in a prison in Rome. He kept writing. A favorite passage of mine is found in the section of the New Testament that we identify as Philippians chapter 4. Remember that he is sitting in a Roman prison while writing. “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice. Let your gentleness be known by everyone. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which is beyond understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Further, whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, excellent and worthy of praise, think about these things. The God of peace will be with you.”

When Paul was not in prison, he took up offerings for those who were in need. I argue with Paul’s theology a lot. However, he got some things right. Following Jesus and acting out the Christ-like life involves thanksgiving. A serious Christian never stops being thankful.

Being thankful brings out our better selves. Observing a day of thanksgiving on which we share our bounty is a very positive influence on American life.

However, with every American Thanksgiving, I end up with very mixed feelings. Everyone in America gets fed a grand meal. We celebrate this grand day of thanksgiving by sharing. For one day. By Sunday the poor are again in the clutches of hunger and homelessness.

What is wrong with this picture? Is this really a thankful America sharing their wealth with people in need? A life of thanksgiving ought to result in a life of giving. What about the other 364 days of the year?

I love the writing of Paul, because Paul was a thinker. He was concerned about the renewal of the minds of people. When Paul sat in prison, he did more that write. He thought.

The passage from Philippians that I quoted has four words that jump out at me. Think about these things. How do thankful followers of Jesus express their thanksgiving 365 days a year?

I was distressed during the recent presidential election campaign. Is America’s greatness to be understood in terms of military power and economic domination? Can we not do better thinking? Can we think about those things that are true, honorable, pleasing, commendable, excellent, worthy of praise, charitable, kind, loving, and generous? While we are thinking, can we think a bit about being thankful people 365 days a year? What kind of generosity would flow out of a year-around thankfulness?

Think about these things!

As a nation we have practiced trickle-down economics for nearly 40 years. What we have learned is that as wealth becomes more concentrated in the elite rich, generosity goes down. When rich people become richer their thinking does not go to generosity but to the accumulation of additional wealth. Bill and Melinda Gates are rare exceptions. Jesus got it right when he said “You cannot serve wealth and God.”

And Paul got it right when he wrote that we need to do some thinking about what is really important in life.

You cannot be truly thankful 365 days a year without a matching generosity.

Think about these things.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.