by Rev Don Schatz

Thanksgiving Trigger.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“I thank God every time I remember you.” 
Philippians 1:3, New International Version

Memories trigger thanksgiving. I have numerous photographs, and paintings, on the walls of my office. Today’s picture is a photograph given to me by a precious brother in Christ. In retirement, he became a professional photographer. He showed up most Friday mornings, quite elderly and literally tottering, as he brought in yesterday’s donuts that he had gotten somewhere. Don would also bring new photographs, to replace others in the ‘gallery’ of his work, that adorned our Church’s Conference Room walls.

We sat, drinking fresh coffee, dunking stale donuts, and he would regale me with tales of his life. Listening to him, I almost believed in reincarnation. How could one man’s lifetime contain so many different careers and experiences?

Does this happen to you? A photograph reminds you not only of the subject that caught the photographer’s eye but of the person who gave it to you, or of others who were with you when you took the picture. For me, Don’s pictures (and I have a few that were gifts from him), help me relive, and reclaim, our fellowship, friendship, and unity in Christ Jesus. I can hear his laugh in my ears as I type!

I want to live my life that way. I want to walk outside and actually see God’s creation. I want that “seeing” to remind me of the Lord. I don’t want it to sink into the background, and become a blur to which I really am not paying attention. I want to live “paying attention”, and that helps me remember.

Remembering is a first person activity for the people of the Scriptures. However, God rescued us in the Passover, not just our ancestors. The Lord remembered us, and our desperate need. Last Sunday’s Resurrection Celebration culminates the story of what his memory, powered by Love, moved him to do for humankind.

Remember today. “Take a picture” with your eyes. Remember the Lord of Creation. Remember the Lord of the New Creation. Remember that you are that new creation, and give Him thanks!

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, CO