Shade Tree Wisdom 11/24/10

Quiet out this morning with no lumbering yellow boxes to sweep up eager, or reluctant and sleepy scholars, as the case may be. A full moon hangs in the lowering sky under scudding clouds, and it is warm. No need for a jacket, and the date is November 24th. A good time to think some deep thoughts about tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day.

“O give thanks unto the Lord,
For He is good, and His mercy
endureth forever.” Psalm 106,1.

Yes indeed, “His mercy endures forever”. A fine thing to remember today when there is grumbling over airport security procedures, the Koreans are shooting at each other, Ireland is in turmoil over finances, the northwest endures storms and highway shutdowns, and Houston workers are putting the finishing touches on a 70 foot Christmas tree with 3,500 ornaments and myriads of LED lights.

Now let’s go back to l636, when the 30 Years War was raging in Germany, and a young Lutheran Pastor, Martin Rincker, began his ministry in the little village of Eilenberg, Saxony. The Swedish army was at the gate. The walled city was filled with floods of refuges, so hunger and disease ravaged the villagers, and Rincker sometimes had as many as 50 funerals in one day. Finally, the Swedes demanded a huge ransom to withdraw, and Rincker, who was the only Pastor left alive in the village, went out to negotiate, to such effect that the wars soon ended, and the Pastor composed this hymn. Sung around the world by Christians ever since.

“Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands, and voices, Who wondrous things has done, in whom our heart rejoices.
Who from our mother’s arms, hath blesses us on our way.
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.”

There are 138 passages in the Bible about thanksgiving, many strongly worded, as in 1 Thess, 5,18: “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

So tomorrow, let us give thanks for God’s rich blessings to us in sending His Son, Christ Jesus, to die and pay for our sins. So shall it be written, so let it be done.

GPD 11/24/10