Thanksgiving 2006

Thanksgiving 2006

Whether we realize it or not, each one of us has much for which to be thankful. I cannot begin to count the many, many blessings that I have received this year alone. They are more numerous than the sands by the sea.

On Thanksgiving Day itself I went to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church for Divine Liturgy. With a few exceptions, I have always attended Liturgy on Thanksgiving Day if I can get there. There have been times when the nearest Orthodox church was over 50 miles away and I did not attend Liturgy because of that. I missed last year because I was really tired. I know, this is a lame excuse and I was determined that I would not have this excuse this year and I did not.

As I drove to the church, I was thankful for the car that I was driving. It has almost 160,000 miles on it and it has been very good to me. I am very thankful that Greg and Kelly thought about me when they had their third child and had to get a van. The car was originally owned by his parents. I've known his mother for years and his brother was a classmate of mine in the seminary.

I was also thankful that I was able to go to church. I have served with people who went to jail because they wanted to worship God. I have worked with people who would had been shot if they wore a cross. Bishop Basil's father was the last president of the Russian Dumas and he had to get the abdication document from the tsar and deliver it to the Dumas. Bishop Basil was eventually arrested and sentenced to eight years of hard labor because of his love for God and His Church. I served with him several times in Washington DC.

I am also thankful that I can worship in English, Slavonic, Greek, and French and be at home in all these languages, although my Greek really leaves much to be desired. We Americans take it for granted that we can worship in our own language. Many other Americans suffered so that we can.

I served at St. Nicholas and I really wish that I could had captured the expression on the priest's face when he entered the altar and saw me standing there. It is really a blessing to be welcome in another church, not only by the priest, but also by the people and other servers and clergy.

But the highlight of Thanksgiving Day is the Eucharist. The word Eucharist means Thanksgiving. It is from the Greek. So what better way can we celebrate Thanksgiving Day than to receive the Eucharist?

I am also thankful for my health. On Thanksgiving Day I was very fortunate. I parked right in front of the church. But it would had been no problem for me to talk several blocks to the church.

That afternoon I drove to Russ and Dr. Pat for dinner. We had two new guests this year, Chris and Alex from Holy Cross Church. Beth was the only daughter present this year. Dr. Carl and Lori were here as usuallly and as was Cathy, a neighbor of Russ and Dr. Pat. Irene was also in town. Paul came without his daughters and we let him know that we are disappointed that they did not come also. Don and Melanie also joined us later.

In addition to a fantastic dinner, and even more fantastic fellowship, we sang Christmas carols at the end. Since I was recovering from a cold or virus, my voice was not all there, but I still had a great time. One of the Christmas carols which we sang was "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Beth, Dr. Pat, Cathy, and Melonie acted out the twelve gifts. Beth was really good. The pictures do not do her justice.