Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! Psalm 105:1-4

I used the picture at left to grab your attention. This is a picture of chicken feet and greens I had for lunch about 6 months ago in Africa. At the risk of being tuned out like Charlie Brown’s “wah-wah” voiced teacher, I will state the obvious. Being a thankful person, a person of gratitude is healthy—and not just yesterday (Thanksgiving) as if that is the one-shot inoculation that will carry one through 364 more days. At least the ancient Hebrews celebrated their Fall harvest festival (the basis for our Thanksgiving is the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths or Sukkot) for an entire week.

The Feast of Tabernacles is a wonderful example of God’s goodness celebrated with thanksgiving by His people. The rabbis interestingly proclaimed it as the most holy of the various feasts and holy days of Israel. Yes, it was designated as holier than Passover or even Yom Kippur. Notice I didn’t say more solemn—I said holier. This is what is interesting. The holiest of all the times designated by YHWH to be kept annually is a 7 day thanksgiving feast. It is a time  to remember that the Hebrews once wandered in the desert as sojourners living in tents—hence the tabernacles/booths designation. But during that whole time, YHWH provided for his people by keeping them clothed, fed, and protected until they could enter the Promised Land. But that is not the main point. It is about presence. Look at the last line (verse 4b) of the Psalm above “…seek his presence continually.”

The Hebrews being sojourners reminds me of something Paul wrote to the Corinthians. After listing types of people that will not inherit the kingdom of God in the preceding verses: sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, thieves, greedy, drunkards, swindlers, and so on—he says in 6:11: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” We may not have wandered in the literal desert for years, but some of us know what it was like to wander in a spiritual desert, which makes us all the more thankful and gives us all the more reason to say that a party celebrating that even in the desert, God preserved us … but now… we are washed, sanctified, and justified.

The Jewish master rabbi Hillel said about tabernacles “If I Am is here… all are here. If I Am is not here, then none are here.” God created us to be in relationship—with each other and with Him. Thus, it is only relationship—nothing else—that is cause for celebration. As “Black Friday” attempts to lure us into the idolatry of substituting things for relationships, remember what each of us already knows by experience: That new car after 2 weeks … that new house … that new TV … they don’t satisfy. What satisfies is the greatest expression of holiness—feasting with others as God himself is in the middle of the party and the very reason for the party. Do I love eating chicken feet soup? Not so much. But I loved that meal because I Am was there and so were hundreds of my African brothers and sisters made in I Am's image. It was about presence.

Yesterday, all one could hear on talk-radio and television was in regard to the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK—known to his friends as “Jack.” Many people talked about their remembrance of that infamous day and what they were doing at the moment they first heard the news from Dallas. It is one of my earliest memories in life as a boy a couple of months shy of my 4th birthday, I remember my mother falling on the floor in front of the television and weeping uncontrollably. It is etched in my memory because it scared me so badly. From there on, I cannot say whether the memories I have of watching the news reports and funeral are untainted by later repetition at the time of MLK’s and soon after, RFK’s assassinations or whether it was because it was the first time I remember watching the old black and white TV set with all my family members gathered together in silence for what seemed like days on end. I say all this as prologue to someone I would like to pay brief tribute to on this day.

Almost unnoticed on the very same day as “Jack” Kennedy’s assassination, another man who liked to be called “Jack” passed on from this life. His death got little attention that day because of JFK’s death, but C.S. “Jack” Lewis also died 50 years ago on November 22, 1963. And with all due respect to our former president, Jack Lewis’ life continues to affect millions of lives 50 years later as well. Whether they fully realize it or not, every child who has read any or all of the Chronicles of Narnia series, was presented the gospel of Jesus Christ by Jack Lewis. Who among us is not moved by the sacrificial and victorious atonement metaphor of Aslan? And who among us that wears the label “Christ-follower” does not appreciate the pithy and powerful statement from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe that Mr. Beaver makes in response to a question as to whether Aslan is safe: “Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

Jack Lewis also lives on as a giant of an apologist for orthodox Christianity which the Roman, Protestant, and Greek Orthodox traditions all quote with great affinity. His work in the WWII radio lectures printed in “Mere Christianity” strikes the rare and amazing balance of an irenic work within Christendom and an uncompromising polemic against the irrationality of atheism and agnosticism. I do not believe improvement can be made upon this statement from Mere Christianity: “A live body is not only one which never gets old, but one that can to some extent repair itself. In the same way, a Christian is not a man who never goes wrong, but a man who is enabled to repent and pick himself up and begin over again after each stumble - because the Christ-life is inside him, repairing him all the time, enabling him to repeat the kind of voluntary death Christ Himself carried out.”

So, while people rightly remember the famous words of Jack Kennedy “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country;” let us not forget Jack Lewis’ statement which like JFK’s statement presents the challenge of choosing rightly. In this case Lewis states what God, not the President of the United States challenges humans to do: “Give me all of you!!! I don’t want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work. I want YOU!!! ALL OF YOU!! I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man or woman, but to KILL IT! No half measures will do. I don’t want to only prune a branch here and a branch there; rather I want the whole tree out! Hand it over to me, the whole outfit, all of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams. Turn them ALL over to me, give yourself to me and I will make of you a new self—in my image. Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself. My will, shall become your will. My heart, shall become your heart.” To paraphrase Jack Lewis: “Ask not what God can do for you, ask what you can do for God. But remember, what God gives you after you have given your all to Him is beyond your wildest dreams—a brand new life filled with wonderful possibilities.”

So here’s to the “other” Jack who passed from our midst 50 years ago. God bless his memory.

Although my schedule allows very little time to peruse Facebook in-depth, on occasion lately I’ve been able to scroll through comments and hit the occasional “like.” In the few short days of November so far, I’ve noticed a lot of thankful posts. This is a welcome trend. Much of what I’ve witnessed as the usual fare on FB and Twitter are spontaneous complaints to which an old high school teacher of mine would have responded: “would you like some cheese with that whine.”

Thankfulness is one of the most “spiritual” things a person can express. Ingratitude and entitlement pervades every part of our culture. Every day—and I’m not being hyperbolic—every day someone suggests to me that so-and-so should be sued for something. Frankly, it nauseates me. It would not be so bad if there were any corresponding statements of “that person should be congratulated.” No. In the world in which we live, we are quick to hand out criticism and slow on the compliments—quick to assert our rights and slow to give mercy.

That’s why the FB “thank you” cavalcade is refreshing. Inevitably, these things seem to go the way of cheesy bumper-sticker slogans and reposts of the more cheesy “honk if you…” statements about gratitude. I hope it does not go that way. But even if it does, it is refreshing for a moment to bask in the sunshine of gratitude instead of the perpetual gloom of ingratitude. My hope this season is that I will reject the grumbling that is so easy to fall into and meditate on what I have to be thankful for … a wonderful wife, healthy kids, and incredible friends. God is good. As the rabbinic sages say—blessed be He.