Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving 2013 (Matthew 6:25-33) “Do not worry.”

Worry is about the fear of the future. It is an anxiety that subverts the joy of the present. It borrows trouble from a fantasy future that may or may not ever exist.

Jesus very pointedly teaches: do not worry. Worry, for most of us, is choice we make. In that choice we establish a pattern of thought and emotional reaction. Eventually, that pattern becomes an embedded behavior that defines our path through life.

My grandfather always advised my brothers and I not to worry about things. “you don’t need to worry about anything,” he would say. “You father worries enough for all of us.”

Worry is a distortion of the soul that has real physical effects on the human brain. Both the Bible and modern science reveal that we can train our thoughts. We can adopt a pessimistic view of life that perceives a threat in every frown and an enemy in every smile. Ot , we can live by grace through faith.

The basic definition of grace is “gift”.

Moses and the prophets observe that all of life is a gift. They also observe that we did not create this world or ourselves. We do make choices to distort our perception of the world. We also make choices to subvert the pattern that exists in the world.

The pattern is the Logos. The Apostle John very clearly, precisely and even poetically writes about the Logos as the co-eternal Word of God by whom, through whom and for whom this world and our species was created.

Worry is a corruption of rational analysis and planning. Worry looks at the world and sees only threat, feels only fear, exists in a narrow space of reaction to imagined danger.

The antidote for worry is to give thanks for the blessings of the present moment.

At this moment, right here, right now, what are you experiencing?

Remember, worry and anxiety are about a possible future that has only a remote probability of coming to pass.

The pattern of the universe is grace. It is the gift of God in the co-eternal Beloved of God to live and move and have our being in the Real Presence of the Holy Spirit of God in the present moment.

On this National Holiday of Thanksgiving the Church asks us to pause and ponder the reality of the present. Right here, right now, what are you thankful for. Jesus is right here in the blessed sacrament of the altr. He is here for you. He offers his friendship to you. In that friendship he gives you the grace, the gift, of freedom.

Jesus will set you free from the resentments and anger of pain that rises from past events. Jesus will set you free from the worry and anxiety that rises from a false belief that the future will only bring more pain. Jesus sets us free by calling our attention to His Real Presence in the present moment.

Let the past go. But, let it go in and through the love of God the Father in the Real Presence of God the co-eternal Beloved, by the infusion of grace of God the Holy Spirit. Let the past rest in peace.

Let the future go. Whatever future you are holding onto through worry and anxiety is only an illusion. Jesus will be in whatever future you are journeying into. There is no need to fear now about a future threat. Jesus will walk with you and stand by you in the pleasures and in the pain of life as it unfolds in time.

Grace sets us free to be.

When God reveals his name to Moses He says: “I AM”.

God is the eternal present. Jesus is the Real Presence of God in the present moment. The present moment holds the pattern of the Logos, the co-eternal Beloved of God, in grace.

In that grace we meet and enjoy the great love of God in Jesus Christ.

What are you thankful for at this time and in this place? Trust Jesus to set you free from worry and fear to enjoy the gift of God in the Real Presence of God in the here and now of an eternal moment of grace.