A family gathered for Thanksgiving...
Illustration
A family gathered for Thanksgiving just three weeks after the mother in the home had died of cancer. The one married son and his wife drove in from several hundred miles away. The daughter in college came back for the weekend. These joined the father and the two younger children who were still in high school.
Wisely, no one tried to hide emotions. Perhaps because of this the father's words meant all the more. When the family had seated itself for the Thanksgiving meal, he looked at them, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke from the heart, "This is not an easy time for us, I know, but of all the things I would like to give thanks for today, I would like to give thanks for healing."
He paused. The expressions on the other faces indicated that in some sense they already understood.
"No," he continued, "We did not have the outward healing we wanted from the start. Though even there, we were given a little more time than we expected. And in that time, your mother and I came to a rich sense of peace. That was God's gift of healing. And she perceived the wonderful goodness of her life. That too was God's gift of healing. And we, right here, have an even greater closeness than before. This too is God's gift for our healing."
After this they joined hands and gave thanks to the God who, in the words of Malachi, sends the wings of healing.
Wisely, no one tried to hide emotions. Perhaps because of this the father's words meant all the more. When the family had seated itself for the Thanksgiving meal, he looked at them, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke from the heart, "This is not an easy time for us, I know, but of all the things I would like to give thanks for today, I would like to give thanks for healing."
He paused. The expressions on the other faces indicated that in some sense they already understood.
"No," he continued, "We did not have the outward healing we wanted from the start. Though even there, we were given a little more time than we expected. And in that time, your mother and I came to a rich sense of peace. That was God's gift of healing. And she perceived the wonderful goodness of her life. That too was God's gift of healing. And we, right here, have an even greater closeness than before. This too is God's gift for our healing."
After this they joined hands and gave thanks to the God who, in the words of Malachi, sends the wings of healing.
