Limber

By Pastor Paul Gauche

Today’s Word: ‘Limber’ as in… the season of thanksgiving limbers us up to live with intentional thankfulness throughout the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, and beyond.

My late, dear friend Eugene Peterson once wrote this about the season of Advent: “Birth:  . . . Wonder . . . Astonishment . . . Adoration. There can’t be very many of us for whom the sheer fact of existence hasn’t rocked us back on our heels. We take off our sandals before the burning bush. We catch our breath at the sight of a plummeting hawk. “Thank you, God.” We find ourselves in a lavish existence in which we feel a deep sense of kinship – we belong here; we say thanks with our lives to Life. And not just “Thanks”… but “Thank You.”

It’s appropriate that the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, and even Lent are preceded by a season of giving thanks. This limbers us up to live with intentional thankfulness. We continue to express gratitude for the colors of sunrises and sunsets, for new acquaintances and familiar friends, for the presence of love in our lives and the memories of loved ones just gone or long gone, for the lengthening shadows of a day well-lived and the anticipation of an even brighter tomorrow.

As the year 2022 and all that it holds for us come to a close, I am noticing that people are especially grateful for life, health, and breath. The stories of gratitude are especially poignant: thanksgiving for the recent birth of a child and grandchild, thanksgiving for family gatherings with life-long friends. Thanksgiving for meaningful work, thankful for health. Most moving, perhaps, is the deep gratitude for a recent memorial service during which an entire room full of friends and family expressed thanksgiving and love for a departed friend and family member.

The season of Advent is the season of waiting and anticipation. It is a season of anticipation for the ongoing arrival of Jesus, whose rebirth in us calls us deeper into Wonder, Astonishment, and Adoration, which changes everything that seems ordinary into something truly extraordinary.

#100days50words

Paul Gauche is the Pastor of Life Transitions at Prince of Peace. His posts are part of his #100days50words project, where he blogs about a different word each week. You can follow his project on Instagram (@pgauche) or his blog, Thriving Rhythms.