A version of this homily was delivered at St. Frances de Chantal RC Church in Wantagh, NY, on November 21, 2018, during the Wantagh Interfaith Thanksgiving Service.
Thank you for the kind welcome! I’d like to thank the members of the Wantagh Interfaith Clergy Council; the community, clergy, and leadership of St. Frances de Chantal; and especially Father Greg Cappuccino for the kind welcome and invitation to preach on this evening of Thanksgiving. Thank you also to our choir for adding such joy and spirit to this evening! It’s not easy being the new guy in town, but one of the blessings is that I get to preach here tonight, before one of my favorite holidays.
Tomorrow we will gather around our Thanksgiving tables. Whether we serve the Thanksgiving meal as lunch or as dinner, or at a point in between when finally everything is ready and warm at the same time, many of us will participate in the same ritual. Together with our families of origin and of choice; with our friends and neighbors; and perhaps even as we break bread with new friends we meet for the first time tomorrow, we will all pause for a moment to consider what it is that we are thankful for. We will go around the table and each share those parts of our lives for which we are grateful, and for which our hearts are full.
Now, I’ve been cooking all day, so if you’d please indulge me, I’d like to get a head start on my list…There are many things for which I have immense gratitude this year. First, I am thankful for my health of mind and body. The human body is an imperfect creation, and I recognize that so many struggle each day. I am thankful for my family. Too many are estranged from loved ones, grapple with loneliness, and have no one to turn to when in need. I am thankful that I have a comfortable home to go to each night, when so many are without. I am thankful for my community and congregation, and the opportunities that have been afforded me by my profession and calling. Too many are without work, or underemployed, or suffering as prices rise but incomes stagnate.
That list may match yours in some ways. But this year, and this evening, as we gather together to ask the Lord’s blessings, I must tell you all that I am also thankful for you. For it was you, this interfaith community, who showed up at Temple B’nai Torah just a few weeks back, as we paid tribute to the 11 worshippers, gunned-down in the midst of prayer, in the senseless massacre at the Tree of Life congregation in Pittsburgh. The attack on that synagogue left me shaken as a rabbi, left my soul aching, and left me wondering what is next for the Jewish community in America. But then, Rabbi Nacht, whose partnership I have been immensely grateful for these last months, put out a call to our friends and neighbors, the pastors, reverends, and ministers you have heard from this evening, and you all showed up for us. You brought your communities with you to mourn with us and to lend us your strength. You lifted your voices in prayer alongside us just as we are all doing tonight. And you stood beside us, reminding us that the Jewish community is not alone in the fight against anti-Semitism and hatred of all forms.
And then, something miraculous happened that afternoon: that part of my soul that had been beaten down was lifted up. Each day in the morning, Jews bless God as the lifter of the fallen. But when my soul was downtrodden, you lifted me. I called out from the depths, I looked up wondering from where my help would come, and there you were, our community. The prayers rising to the heavens, and ringing in my ears brought such comfort, and made me recognize that among the many things for which I am thankful, I am also thankful for America. Though America, and we Americans, often fall short of our ideals, the times when we get it right emphasize what a gift this nation is and can be. For helping me to feel this, and for healing my soul, I thank you as well.
It is the premise and the promise of America that neighbors ought to be of different backgrounds, and that those neighbors can and should come together in times of hardship and struggle, as well as times of celebration. It is in the premise and the promise of America that people of different faiths come together in our schools, in our armed services, and in our businesses, and that those differences don’t alienate us from each other, but rather enrich us. It is the premise and the promise of America that the differences don’t matter, that above all else, we are all Americans. As an immigrant myself, it is the concept of “E pluribus Unum,” “out of many, one,” that makes America wonderful. It is up to all of us to remember that. When we gathered together at B’nai Torah, I was reminded of that truth about us and about our nation. And this evening only solidifies what I was reminded of those weeks ago.
Tomorrow, as you take a moment around your tables, consider the gratitude we ought to show to the promise of this nation, which has afforded all of us opportunities unlike any other place on earth. When we, or our parents, or grandparents, or however far back, made our way to these shores, it was because this nation promised us that what unites us is stronger than what differentiates us. Humans are imperfect and fallible. And this nation is run by humans, so this nation will always be a work in progress, as we humans are always a work in progress. But the promise of America, that individuals can come together, can help one another, can care for each other, can look out for the other, that promise endures. I am thankful for that promise, and urge us all to recognize that tomorrow.
But, for that promise to endure, we all have to do more. We see the divide growing between us and our neighbors. We see the rancor, built of anonymity, which can only be resolved by community building. And so, if you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’m going to preach to the clergy. We have to do more together. We have to come together more than once per year, or in the wake of tragedy. If we come together, and build relationships, then our houses of worship can begin to come together. If our houses of worship come together, the fabric of our community is strengthened, we become neighbors instead of strangers. When we become neighbors, we look out for each other. And when we look out for each other, we strengthen the promise of America. And when that promise is strengthened, we all have much more to be thankful for. Let us therefore work together to bring this clergy council into a new generation. One which seeks to meet regularly, to understand what’s happening in our town, and in our neighborhoods. Let us become true friends, bound by faith, even as our faiths differ. Let our congregations’ doors be open to each other, such that when, God forbid, another tragedy strikes, we do not show up to support strangers or even neighbors, no we show up to support our friends.
What am I thankful for? I am thankful for you. I’m thankful for this community, and I am thankful for the opportunities this nation allows us to meet and become friends with people of all faiths and backgrounds. Out of the many traditions in this room, we are indeed one on this night. Let us continue that work tomorrow, and the next day.
I’d like to close with a prayer for Thanksgiving:
Sing Hallelujah - a poem for Thanksgiving
By Stacey Robinson
Sing praise and
shout hallelujah,
as bullets sing their siren song
and death is never far;
and sing praise
while fires rage and
children fall silent
behind barbed wire fences, and
children fall silent
with bellies distended, and
children fall silent
as their homes are devoured,
and they race against monsters and time.
Sing praise, for the monsters are winning.
Free the captive.
Feed the hungry.
Give shelter to those in need.
This is my song,
this praises my name -
Be kind.
Work for peace.
Hallelujah!
Hope is an action.
Pray with your feet.
Hallelujah!
Lift your eyes and see God
In the eyes of the other.
Hallelujah!
All the earth is holy ground.
The bush burns,
do you not see?
Open your eyes -
there are such wonders!
Open your heart -
there is such love!
Sing hallelujah!
This is my bounty.
This the glory.
For this we give thanks.
For the richness of life,
And the jagged edges that cut
and draw blood,
And the beauty
In the sound of rain
and silence,
We give thanks.
For the Creator of eternity
and time,
Who calls to us in darkness
and light,
In our hunger
And our want,
We give thanks.
For the fullness,
For the stones that bite
And the bedrock upon which we stand,
For the hands that lift us,
And the song that fills us
We give thanks.
For our breath,
For our bodies
For the grace of healing,
And the blessing of light,
So that we can taste the sweet,
The sharp,
The weary,
Lonely,
Lovley
Holiness of this day
Sing hallelujah
And give thanks.
May we all have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!
No comments:
Post a Comment