Pie and Cry

Many churches, I assume, host some kind of Thanksgiving service or celebration this time of year.  “It is good,” the scriptures tell us, “to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High.”  (Psalm 92:1, 2).  What better place to voice our thanks than within the body of believers.  For many years my church hosted a traditional Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings, after which we would gather to sing hymns and give thanks for blessings received throughout the previous year.

                   

When the congregation became so large that our kitchen couldn’t handle the demand of serving a full meal, we simplified our celebration to a service of singing and thanks-giving.  This was followed by a time of fellowship during which pie was served.

The unofficial name for this tradition became “The Pie and Cry,” because many, in voicing their thanks, were moved to tears.  Some folks in the church were bothered by the shorthand name given to the event; they thought it somehow demeaned or cheapened the experience.  So now I affectionately refer to it as “The Event Formerly Known as The Pie and Cry.”

Yes.  I am the tiniest little bit rebellious.

I don’t mean to be demeaning or disrespectful; truly I don’t.  I just happen to think there’s sweetness in the name, “Pie and Cry.”  Shouldn’t church be the one place where it’s safe to stand and weep openly about the pain and brokenness of living in this fallen world?  Isn’t it the most fitting place to shed tears over the places where our souls have been ripped open, rubbed bare and bloodied by the thorns and thistles of life?  It seems right to let this be the place where we allow our tears to be an offering of praise to the One who met us in those places extending His healing mercy and grace.

And, after all, there is pie.

Often the Thanksgiving service is punctuated by awkward moments of silence.  Many of us sit, knowing we have been blessed; we have received grace upon grace throughout the year.  I’ve often felt the weight of knowing I should give thanks but have had a hard time calling to mind those things for which I should be giving thanks.

This year, I had a list.  Because I’ve been a part of the Gratitude Community, I have a list of many blessings I’ve received from the hand of God, blessings both great and small.  Right now, it is twenty-one pages long and has over six hundred items on it.

No, I didn’t read them all.

I did take some time before the service to review it and, thanks to word processing software techno-wizardry, was able to count some of the people and things that appeared multiple times.  For example:

Many of the folks in my church family showed up on my list.  My pastor appeared multiple times, as did our local campus minister.  These men take God’s word seriously, live as though they believe the gospel, and are a blessing to my church, to the local students, and to me.  If God had given me nothing this past year but these two faithful servants, how could I be anything but grateful?

Yet, my list goes on.  I am thankful for the women in my church who came together around my daughter for her bridal shower and for the opportunity to see faithful, Christian community at its very, very best.

Some days, thanks-giving came harder than others.  Often on those days God filled the night sky with stars or lit up the daylight with glorious rainbows, each reminding me that He is faithful to all His covenant promises.  Sometimes He sent hummingbirds to bring a smile to my face and joy.

Not surprisingly, many of the items on my list have to do with my family.  I am grateful that my daughter has found a man who loves her and loves Jesus and wants to marry her.  I am grateful for his extended family and their lives of faithfulness.

The words son, father, dad, husband, and beloved Swede appear multiple times on my list.  I am so grateful for these men with whom I share life—their gifts and strengths, their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  I am blessed to have the opportunity to see how God is at work in and through them, and I am so grateful for them.

I am grateful, too, for Ann and the Gratitude Community encouraging me to see my blessings and count them.

And the list and the counting continue:

623.  Friend providing volunteer opportunity for son at local Christian school.

624.  Time spent together in the car on the way there.

625.  A driving lesson from Grandpa.

626.  Son’s big smile afterward.

627.  Another request for help; another opportunity for son to volunteer and be a blessing to others.

628.  How much he enjoyed helping.

629.  Knowing these requests for help from within the body of Christ are responses to God’s promptings and answers to prayer.

630.  Three of us sitting down together after the storm.

631.  A morning spent in a courthouse in response to a summons for jury duty.  Living in a country that continues to echo the heart of God in seeking justice for the oppressed.

632.  Daughter’s future in-laws living nearby who provide real support and encouragement to her.

633.  Daughter getting a doctor’s appointment and medication she needed.

634.  Knowing that when she gets married, she and her husband will bring with them a heritage of many generations of faithful Christians from both sides of the family.