“But thanks be to God”: A Sixteenth Reflection

Today is the day once designated by the civil government of these United States for public thanksgiving to the Creator for his gracious gifts lavished upon us in divine Providence. It is thus fitting for me to, as I have done each year since my first Thanksgiving reflection, publicly give thanks for specific blessings, especially those newly experienced,or newly remembered, since last year.

But first and foremost, I am grateful that (in the words of the Heidelberg Catechism)

the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth with all that is in them, who also upholds and governs them by his eternal counsel and providence, is for the sake of Christ his Son my God and my Father. I trust in him so completely that I have no doubt that he will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul. Moreover, whatever evil he sends upon me in this troubled life he will turn to my good, for he is able to do it, being almighty God, and is determined to do it, being a faithful Father.

I am also grateful for his continued grace in contentment, so that despite so many of my hopes coming to nothing, and despite the ordinary discomforts of life, I am even more confident that everything that happens does so according to God’s eternal plan and is thus for the best. This is not to say that he has yet cured me of complaining, but I have learned to believe that, as the hymn says, “Whate’er my God ordains is right.”

Second, I am still grateful for God’s gracious help in my writing, both in poetry and prose. In last year’s reflection I mentioned that I had poems scheduled to run in this space twice a month through that coming July; by God’s grace I have been not only able to continue that pace through this whole year, but to schedule them out to nearly the end of next year. (There is one spot on the calendar for which I want a seasonally-relevant poem, which I haven’t yet finished, but once I do and can make the time to find accompanying images, I have enough in my “presentable” backlog to either immediately extend that lead by several more months or increase the pace to three poems a month.)

A large proportion of the new, rather than newly-polished, poems have been Psalm settings; I am grateful for God’s grace in leading my thoughts when considering the texts to wording that feels both pleasing to my poetic sensibilities and sufficiently my own (not merely copying a translation or some other setting).

On the prose front, I am grateful that God has given me the will to keep at the draft of The Invasion. As I mentioned last year, I had planned for this to be my major project for 2019 before God turned my life upside down, but I finally resumed it last year. At this time last year it stood at about 32,000 words and 26 chapters; to my amazement, it now stands at about 58,000 words and 45 chapters, and the end is definitely in sight. More about this in the coming months.

I am particularly grateful for the faithful encouragement, wise counsel, and sensible critique of my dear friend who has taken time from her own very busy schedule to read each chapter as I finish it.

Third, I am grateful for meaningful work with a supportive and skilled team, by which God has both abundantly provided for my financial needs and given me the means to both have a part in the advancement and service of his kingdom and seek to delight friends and family.

Finally (in the brief time I have today), I am grateful that God’s kindness and favor is not conditional on anything in me or that I do, in response or otherwise: I have (as I have noted in many previous reflections) always failed to give God the thanks his magnanimity deserves, even in my most effusive praises, and have often squandered his gifts. But because I know him to be my Father for the sake of his Son, while this is no excuse for high-handedly wilful neglect or rebellion, I can trust that his mercy and grace will be the same for me through all my life and beyond, as they have been for those who went before.

Praise him for his grace and favor
To our fathers in distress;
Praise him, still the same as ever
Slow to chide and swift to bless:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Glorious in his faithfulness.