The good in T-day leftovers
And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. — Hebrews 10:21-22
I begin writing this prep twenty-three minutes after Thanksgiving officially ended for the year 2023. A close and wonderful clergy member and friend just checked in on me on what is now Black Friday. Her message? I’ll share it here.
“Hope you had a sweet and love-filled Thanksgiving, dear one—all sensational seven of you!”
We are close because we share our lives—the good and the not so good. She knows this was the first Thanksgiving without my mom at the table. I learned this Thanksgiving that her daughter wasn’t present at her table.
I responded to my friend. “The smaller, quieter table. The longing for another chair filled. Let’s pray tonight so that tomorrow the world springs further into the need for and the hope found in Jesus.”
Loss. Love. Life. Paul says we do have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house. This High Priest, our High Priest, rules over our houses, too, if we let Him.
Let God rule. As we move from Thanksgiving and its leftover emotions of joy and loss, peace and pangs, let’s go into the presence of God with sincere, sorrowful and celebratory hearts. Let’s do this with the trust of knowing God sits with our sweet and love-filled celebrations AND our empty places and spaces.
PRAYER: High Priest, rule over our hallelujahs and our hurts so that, yes, we will all spring further into the need for and the hope found in Jesus, Your Son, our Emmanuel. Amen.
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