As I was driving to the BGAV (Baptist General Association of Virginia) meeting this past Wednesday morning at Bon Air Baptist Church, I had one thought on my mind: I didn’t want to go. Don’t get me wrong, I think the BGAV meetings are great gatherings. And I love my Virginia Baptist family. A big part of the reason that I didn’t want to go is that there is not an “introvert track” at the BGAV, and I need a good amount of quiet time alone, especially in the mornings. After two full days in the large crowd, I had about reached my limit. But I went anyway, mopey attitude and all. I entered the back of the sanctuary, sitting almost on the back pew in the very far corner. Not long after I sat down a choir began singing, and they caught my attention. It was a choir from an African-American congregation in Richmond. They finished their first piece, and then they began their second selection, and I recognized it immediately. I have sung it as a hymn before (at a Montreat Worship and Music Conference), and it is one of my favorites. The title of the song is Total Praise, and it begins with the words of Psalm 121, “Lord, I will lift my eyes to the hills.” The energy of the song builds steadily to the climax, and then ends quietly. It is powerful, it is moving, it brings tears to my eyes. Here’s a link if you’d like to listen to another choir sing Total Praise.
The song is wonderful, and the choir that sang it at the BGAV meeting was extraordinary. But what listenting to that choir did for me that day was it “got me out of my head” and caused me to focus on something bigger, more powerful, more beautiful, something beyond myself. Music does that for me. Worship does it too. Gratitude does that for me as well.
I have a devotional book that offers me a short thought each day, and on many days at the end of the reflection I jot down a list of things that I am grateful for that day. It is a simple exercise that sets my world in perspective. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I offer to you one a short list of what I am thankful for today:
I am thankful for my wife of 27 years come the 28th of December,
who loves me even when I am (frequently) unlovable,
and reminds me to not take myself too seriously,
and still makes me look forward to days we can spend together, just the two of us.
I am thankful for my three wonderful daughters;
I am thankful that they are smart, strong, and independent,
I am thankful that they are compassionate and caring of others.
I am thankful for my church family at May Memorial;
I am thankful for my parents and my wife’s parents,
that they made us go to church as children—even when it wasn’t fun,
that they sent us to college,
and expected us take responsibility for ourselves when we became adults and were married.
I am thankful that I was able to go to the Holy Land this year, and sing Silent Night in Bethlehem, and fall on my knees and pray at Calvary, and stand with tears in my eyes in the Empty Tomb.
I am thankful for my home,
that it is warm and safe,
that it faces east so the sun shines in the front windows in the morning,
and that I don’t have to act like a pastor there;
I am thankful that I have all I need, and so much more;
I am thankful God gives me things for free that I could never afford…
like the joy of sitting by a fire in my yard with my family,
and the wonder of a sunset over the ocean on summer vacation.
I am thankful for the people that I have met that I would have never sought out and the things I learned from them;
I am thankful that in August of 2007 God rescued me in a powerful way and gave me a life of peace, joy, freedom, and sobriety.
I am thankful for the painful experiences that taught me things I would have never learned without them;
I am thankful for music and people who compose or perform it,
like Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, Jay Ungar, and Doc Watson,
and Vaughan Williams, J.S. Bach, Morten Lauridsen, and Josquin des Prez.
This week of Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful, to “get out of our heads,” and to notice all the goodness, blessing, power, and beauty that is around us. You are like me, we are blessed beyond all that we can imagine. We owe God, the giver of all our good gifts, our Total Praise.