Is there a season when gratitude should not bloom?
Jason is the RUF Area Coordinator supporting Campus Ministries in Virginia and Eastern North Carolina.
Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday. It is not explicitly “religious” but it feels deeply rooted in faith.
It is ironic that my annual Thanksgiving feast usually ends with my belt loosened and my stomach aching with over indulgence. In contrast, a feast of daily gratitude never aches with anything other than hope.
Jesus gave John a symbolic visage of the New Creation that is coming soon:
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
When all things are made new the season of harvest will never cease or end – the Tree of Life will be harvested continually, and all peoples will be forever fed and healed. The joy of gratitude will never end!
There are no laborers in John’s vision, only worshipers.
There is no waiting – 12 fruits continually bloom.
None are excluded or hungry – all nations enjoy a global feast.
John sees reality; the divine certainty of fecundity, glory, and life.
Today, how do I cultivate humility to receive life as a gift as I labor among the thistles under a sweaty-sun?
Wendell Berry wrote this short earthy poem.
It is a literary tool that is helping me grow toward a habit of gratitude.
