Oct 11th, 2020: How to Give Thanks to God?



It has been a long and beautiful Fall for us in Calgary. We are delighted by the slowly changing colors and warm weather. So we took some time to prepare our garden for the winter this Thanksgiving weekend. It is fitting to give thanks to because we have one of the best crops this Covid-19 year. 


One of the things we have to get our trees and plants ready for the winter is deep watering. Some people would say it is the holy grail of gardening. It is very much like getting ourselves prepared for this coming cold season during the threat of the second wave. In some parts of the country, businesses are closed gain as the infection rate increases. We might want to consider what it means to prepare ourselves spiritually as we face many new challenges in the coming months. What is Deep Spiritual Soaking of Our Soul?


A) Become more and more aware of various spiritual malaise that will take place as we face uncertainties in life. Selfishness can be one of those as we are worried about self-preservation. Hoarding is one of the phenomena we have seen in recent months. Being indifferent toward the suffering of others. It is the outcome of the callousness of the heart. We become overloaded with the news concerning Covid-19, and it all sounds the same after a while.


B) Try not to be cynical and critical. We know that we are getting tired of Covid-19 news and various levels of government's decrees and regulations in dealing with the pandemic. There is an increasing cynicism among some people. Some have even become more critical towards what the health officials are telling us. We might want to deep breath and allow ourselves to take a rest with God. 


C) Know where our hearts stand while dealing with the suffering of many. We should not trivialize the death of many people due to Covid-19. We might want to allow ourselves to identify with those who are grieving the loss of their loved ones. We should not just consider other people's life challenges and predicaments as statistics to be analyzed. Lives are being broken and destroyed dues to these economic factors.


Deep Spiritual Soaking of Our Soul will take us to the place where we can truly identify with the suffering Christ. It is when we are longer preoccupied with ourselves, but filled with God's love for our broken world. That is when a heart of stone becomes a heart of flesh.


Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who are Canadians!   


Psalm 37:7

“Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him.”


Isaiah 40:29-31

“He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might, He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

 

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