Terry Paul Choyce
October 8, 2006 BSUC
I know this is Thanksgiving weekend, but for the next few moments let's pretend it is Christmas morning. You are the parent of two children, Clyde and Ruth. Over the last year you have been saving some money to buy your children presents they will really like. You have carefully picked out their gifts, wrapped them, and placed them under the tree. In a few minutes your kids will be up. You have beautiful Christmas music playing, you have a big breakfast planned, and you are all excited about the day.
In come your children. Ruth squeals with delight when she sees the presents, and rushes over to the tree. Clyde looks sleepy and cranky. He flops onto the couch. Ruth picks up a gift. It is for Clyde, so she takes it over to him. He ignores it. She gets another, and it is for her. It is a pair of slippers, which she says she loves, and puts on immediately. Her next present is a bag filled with hair care products, which she says she can't wait to use, and that they smell fantastic. Then she opens up a new book. She says she has read this one and it is really good. Is it ok if she gives this copy to her friend Claire? Finally she opens a small box which contains her big gift. It is a cross neckless, and the cross has a real diamond in the centre. She runs over and gives you a big hug, and says she will wear it forever.
Clyde is still on the couch, scowling. Ruth encourages him to open his presents. He says he isn't in the mood. Ruth asks you to open your presents. She has gotten you tickets to the play at Neptune Theatre, a place you have never been, but have wanted to go to. You thank her deeply. Clyde mumbles that he didn't have enough money to get you anything, because you don't give him enough allowance. He says he is hungry, and why can't you all eat before opening the presents every year. So you and Ruth go into the kitchen to get breakfast on the table. Clyde gets up and turns off the Christmas music and puts on the rap music he likes. You hope this might improve his mood, but it does nothing good for yours. You all end up eating in strained silence. Ruth helps you clear off the table, while Clyde goes back to bed, his presents still unopened.
How do you feel right now? (Ask the congregation to respond.) I am feeling very angry at Clyde. I am feeling hurt and unappreciated. This feeling surpasses my pleasure in Ruth's reaction to the morning. I am thankful that she was so positive, loving, and helpful. But deep down I am extremely disappointed and upset about Clyde's behaviour. And I feel like I don't want him to even open his presents. I want to return them and get my money back. I want to take that money and buy some more things for Ruth, because she will appreciate them and she will treat me with gratitude, kindness, and love.
Imagine now that it is 3 hours later. Clyde comes over to you and says he is sorry for the way he acted this morning. He says he felt guilty all night because he had not gotten you a gift, so he couldn't sleep. He says he got his girlfriend an ipod, which took all of his money. He says he'd like to do some extra chores around the house, and that would be his present to you. Maybe he could paint your bedroom, since that is something you have wanted for a long time.
How do you feel now? You feel pretty wonderful. You and Clyde go into the livingroom and he opens his presents, and he genuinely likes them all. You hug each other, then go into the kitchen to make lunch together. You feel like life can be no better than this.
Do you go through life like Ruth on Christmas morning, or like Clyde? Are you openly appreciative for all you get and all you have, or are you living with a scowl? If you are like Ruth, I think you will find that generally people are pretty nice to you. Stuff goes wrong, but you are able to feel better quickly, and you are quite upbeat and optimistic almost every day. You find that people want to be with you, and to give you things that will make you happy. Your life flows smoothly.
Now, how is life when you are like Clyde on Christmas morning? You look for the negatives. You worry. You feel guilty. You do things that make people angry and uncomfortable. So people do not want to be with you. They do not want to give you things that are nice. With your negative attitude you have created a very hurtful, toxic life for yourself.
But Clyde showed us how we could change all that. He asked for forgiveness. He explained his situation. He told you how he felt and why. And he offered to make amends to the best of his ability. He hugged you. Instead of staying stuck in his anger, guilt , and self-pity, he apologised and reached out in love. Like the Prodical son, he returned with humility and remorse, and he was warmly welcomed and forgiven.
In our reading from Joel today (2:21 - 27), we are told to "be joyful and glad because of all the Lord has done for you." God says to rejoice, and then bad times will not return. He says to praise God. I think the best way to praise God is to say "thank you" for all that you have. I know I say thank you to God many times a day, usually in my head, but often out loud. I thank God for Paul, my girls, my family, my friends, my home. I thank God for the opportunity to be with each of you in this church, and I think it is a miracle that I have been given this privilege. I am thankful for my talents, my courage, my optimism. I am thankful for my health and my present freedom from pain and sickness. I thank God that I live in Nova Scotia, and in a magnificent country like Canada. I thank God for the vanilla soy milk I pour on my cereal, for the red leaves I see outside of my window, for the comfortable shoes I have on my feet. When we approach our lives with an attitude of gratitude, each of us can find so much to be thankful for. And when we show that gratitude to God and to others, our lives really and truly do get better.
I'd like to end with this poem by e.e. cummings, which I have used once before, but it is so good it deserves to be heard again.
I thank you God for this most amazing day;
for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and the true blue dream of sky;
and for everything which is natural, which is infinite,
which is YES.
Praise be to God.
©Terry Paul Choyce. Used with permission from the author.
