Giving Thanks – a repost

We’re taking a break from responding to “Gay Chapel Week” today to give thanks. Last year, we posted this Thanksgiving Wall of Gratitude. We liked it so much, we thought it worth sharing again and inviting your additions in the comments section below.

today, we share our gratitude with one another, with our world, and with our God — however we individually manage to catch a glimpse and to ponder a definition of that ineffable goodness at the center of all good things — and we say “thanks”

— the editors of BJUnity.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Abundance”

Another time
Another place
Another meal
Another grace
Another day
Another song
Another blessing
And on and on

 

And on and on
And on the moments come
No matter where
No matter why
No matter when
No matter how

 

Abundance flows
All around
For all to share
This life, our common ground

— Nathan Ohm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is my favorite song about Gratitude — some have called it the Gay National Anthem:

 

— Dan Marvin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Originally, I was going to hand-letter or design something. But then my laptop died, and I got the cold from hades. So I decided to use my words.

I was initially hesitant to write about thankfulness. Even though I know Thanksgiving isn’t strictly a religious holiday (ironic, considering the etymology of the word “holiday”), I’m accustomed to viewing it as such. And at a time in my life when I am absolutely unsure about my faith, it feels a little odd to be thankful. After all, my faith has been the cornerstone of my understanding of life for over 20 years. And to suddenly doubt the very core of it makes me feel that my entire world is in upheaval.

But then I reasoned that thankfulness isn’t a strictly Christian practice or emotion. It’s a human one.

Over the past two years, I’ve gone on quite a journey. I’m still on the road, as it were. Will be my whole life.

But there have been people who have reached out to me over the past couple of years, who have accepted me and buoyed my weary soul. Most of these people I’ve never met face to face. But we have shared our words with one another. We’ve shared our lives and our hearts and grown closer together. When I’m still in a place in my life where most of my “real life” support system can’t support my questions or the few conclusions I’ve come to, my online support system has sustained me. BJUnity has been a big part of that.

I haven’t been to church regularly in a few years. It simply hurts too much to go. But I’ve always longed for the community that I’ve been told a church offers. And you — you all, you are my church. You speak truth into my life, but not only truth. You love me. And I love you. And I don’t know what I would have done the past couple of years without you.

— Dani Kelley

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BJUnity has changed my life. I previously felt like I was one of very few gay alumni from BJU.

I was resolved that I was abandoned by God, but nonetheless would live my life authentically.

 

 

Thankfully I am not alone, nor abandoned. Not only do I feel like I finally belong to something, but I’ve also become an advocate and an activist.
What an amazing year!

— Bill Ballantyne

photos by Bill Ballantyne

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I really love this song.

Here are the lyrics:

It is not love, if love is cold to touch
It is not belief, when there’s nothing there to trust
Could not submit, would never bring myself to heel
Determination grows, as each truth is revealed

Torn and repaired, just to endure it all again
Without a reason for my place in all this pain
Though well concealed, the scars they just compound
Until there’s nothing left of what was once my former self

My god, look at what we are now
Without regret for all the things that we have done

Thank you for all the doubts, and for all the questioning
For all the loneliness and for all the suffering
For all the emptiness, and the scars it left inside
It inspired in me, an impetus to fight

For the conviction, for the purpose found along
For the strength and courage, that in me I’ve never known
And if it seems to you, that my words are undeserved
I write this in gratitude for whatever good it serves

Sometimes I wish, that you could see me now
In the rightful place, where I knew that I belonged
Sometimes I wish, that you might someday understand
To close the chapter, and lay to rest the past

But nothing would change, we make the best of what we have
For we are measured, by the actions of our lives
We bide our time, let the future unfold
Like immortals, in great legends to be told

My god, look at what we are now
Without regret for all the things that we have done

Thank you for all the doubts, and for all the questioning
For all the loneliness, and for all the suffering
For all the emptiness, and the scars it left inside
It inspired in me, an impetus to fight

To all who stood with me, when we stood as one
Thank you for guiding me, for bringing me home
And if it seems that I’m obliged to say these words
I write this in gratitude, the least that you deserve

— Keturah Bixby

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is my family.

Not broken, beautifully whole. 🙂

— Alexandrea Finney

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We return thanks to our mother,
the earth, which sustains us.
We return thanks to the rivers and streams
which supply us with water.
We return thanks to all herbs, which furnish medicines
for the cure of our diseases.
We return thanks to the corn, and to her sisters,
the beans and squashes, which give us life.
We return thanks to the bushes and trees,
which provide us with fruit.
We return thanks to the wind,
which, moving the air, has banished diseases.
We return thanks to the moon and the stars,
which have given us their light when the sun was gone.
We return thanks to our grandfather He-no,
that he has protected his grandchildren from witches and reptiles,
and has given us his rain.
We return thanks to the sun,
that he has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye.
Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit,
in whom is embodied all goodness,
and who directs all things for the good of his children.

— traditional Iroquois Prayer of Thanksgiving

Grandfather, Great Mysterious One,
You have been always and before You nothing has been.
There is nothing to pray to but You.

The star nations all over the universe are Yours,
And Yours are the grasses of the earth.
Day in and day out You are the life of things.
You are older than all need,
Older than all pain and prayer.

Grandfather, all over the world the faces of the living ones are alike.
In tenderness they have come up out of the ground.
Look upon Your children with children in their arms,
That they may face the winds,
And walk the good road to the day of quiet.

Teach me to walk the soft earth,
A relative to all that live.
Sweeten my heart and fill me with light,
And give me the strength to understand and the eyes to see.
Help me, for without You I am nothing.

— Oglala Sioux Chief Black Elk, circa 1931

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whether it be fact or fiction or — as is more likely in our experience of history — somewhere in between the two, the story of the First Thanksgiving is inspiring. It tells of the future minority saving the very lives of what became the oppressive majority — those first English settlers — by teaching them to cultivate and harvest the indigenous flora of the New World and how to avoid being poisoned by toxic plants in this unfamiliar wilderness.

The two-month-long Mayflower voyage had ended disastrously in 1620. There was no time to plant or harvest crops that autumn. The Massachusetts winter is brutal in comparison to the English. We know now that the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean carries a fresh supply of warm ocean waters towards the British Isles, making their climate far more temperate than could be expected from their proximity to the Arctic Circle. No such currents exist in New England, but those religious refugees and misfits didn’t know that. They were utopian in their aspirations, foolish and naive, not to mention desperate to live freely according to the dictates of their own consciences. So they recklessly set sail midsummer and arrived just in time for the cold.

We know that the harsh winter nearly did them in. Half of the 102 passengers of the Mayflower did not survive that winter. Most of the rest were malnourished and ill by the time spring arrived. So the these Native Americans, who demonstrated compassionate humanity by teaching those bedraggled survivors their own sustainable agricultural methods, saved the very lives of those first Pilgrim settlers.

Corn. Squash. Pumpkins. Maple syrup. Turkey.

These are all food sources that were completely unknown to the Europeans of 1620. And they became staples of the Pilgrim diet — and, by extension, the modern American diet — because of the kindness of strangers: Squanto, with his contingent of Abenaki and Pawtuxet. It is no wonder then that those settlers decided to mark the English custom of a Harvest Festival by inviting their benevolent neighbors to share a feast with them that following autumn.

In at least one reading of the story, then, for one brief span of time, there was a unity between peoples whose languages, culture, customs, religious expressions, skin pigmentation, and a host of other happenstances took a backseat to the common value of gratitude.

And that is what Thanksgiving as a holiday represents in the American narrative: that simple truth that plurality is not an encumbrance, but a blessing; that our differences make us stronger, not weaker; that people are more important than tradition and orthodoxy.

It is no coincidence that President Abraham Lincoln established the national holiday, based on a regional Northeast tradition, in the midst of the tragedy of civil war. Lincoln understood, as we do today, that few things promote the common human values of love, compassion, dignity, and equality like a shared meal and a sincere expression of gratitude.

In fact, Jesus Himself gave his Great Commandment to “love one another as I have loved you” at a meal, His last, shared with His disciples, one of whom He knew was about to betray Him. It was that same night in which He stooped, both physically and spiritually, to wash their feet, showing us the need for humility and selfless service in the act of loving. It is this radical loving, this giving freely of oneself to affirm the life of another very different from oneself, that can lead us to true unity.

And so today, in the calamitous aftermath of a bitter election, in the desperate throes of international conflicts, in the terrifying midst of an economic downturn unparalleled since the 1930s, with bitterness and hard feelings all around, with homophobia and transphobia still rampant among even those who love us, in the manner of the native Americans, whose wisdom and charity prevailed to save the lives of those proud, naive Pilgrims, let us give thanks….

… to the Great Spirit, for our lives, for our health,

… to each other

…for each other,

for our agreements and for our disagreements,

for our joys and for our sorrows,

for our pleasures and for our pains,

for our gains and for our losses,

for friendship and for enmity,

for concord and for strife,

for conservatives and for liberals,

for Democrats and Republicans,

for straight people and for queer people,

for atheists and Christians,

for Muslims and Jews,

for Hindus and Sikhs,

for orthodoxy, for heterodoxy, and for heresy,

and most of all, for the blessing  that each of those is or can be;

let us remember that love is patient, kind, giving, humble, moderate, polite, selfless,  longsuffering, forgiving, good, truth-seeking, protective, trusting, hopeful, persevering, and unfailing,

Let us walk together in love, for in love we will find unity.

I am so very grateful for you.

Yes, you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jeffrey Hoffman
Executive Director
BJUnity

P.S. (2013) How could we have known a year ago that a glimmer of hope for peace in the Mideast might have been so close? that the Supreme Court this year would have ruled to strike down key provisions of one of the most discriminatory pieces of legislation to survive the Clinton Administration, the “Defense of Marriage” Act? or that sixteen states in the union, more than one third the population of this great nation, would now have marriage equality? or that two weeks ago Dr. Stephen Jones would offer a halting, feeble attempt — but still an attempt — at a change in the rhetoric about LGBT+ people at Bob Jones University? We’re still waiting for that apology, but we did hear you, Stephen, and we’re grateful you’ve paid attention enough to try… for the sake of those students who are hurting.

Tweet