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Bible, Bible Study, blessings, Gospel of Mark, Jesus, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving dinner

2012 Family Turkey Created by Lee and Liesl 🙂

Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessngs, see what God hath done;
Count you blessngs, name them one by one;
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

It’s almost Thanksgiving, and rumor has it that they will serve a turkey dinner on Thursday, although it will be dark meat. We got a lot of turkey here. Turkey ham slices for sandwiches, cubed turkey a la king, sliced turkey with gravy (and bits of bone for texture – it’s mechanically separated turkey), turkey slices (boney as well) for sandwiches, turkey burgers, turkey in the hot dogs and meatballs and pseudo-sausage we get some Sunday mornings. With all that turkey in our diets, you would think we wouldn’t be craving any more turkey. But there is a big difference between turkey scraps ripped apart by a machine and a roasted turkey carved with love.

Now don’t get me wrong – I am thankful for the food that I get each day. At meals I silently sing, “For health, and strength, and daily bread we give thee thanks, Oh Lord.” And I do the extended version of “God is Great.” with the line “By Thy hands we all are fed” although it is sometimes approaching blasphemy to credit God with what comes on our trays. But there are so many people in the world without enough to eat that I am mindful of being blessed with three meals a day, even if the best you can say after a meal is it was feeling.

Thanksgiving, however, is more than turkey. It’s a time to give thanks to God for our many blessings. Last year my family made a brown construction paper turkey on a cork board. Over the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving we wrote our expressions of thankfulness on colorful construction paper feathers and stuck them on the cork board to form the turkey’s fan. I was very thankful when my daughter continued the tradition this year in my absence. And on facebook, my wife and many others have been listings things they are thankful for each day for the 30 days of November. And when we sit down to eat our Thanksgiving dinner, we take a moment to name the things we are thankful for. But this year I won’t be sitting at the table with my family. I’ll be sitting with my fellow inmates, and, if the budget cuts have not made it prohibitive, eating real pieces of turkey.

In our little Bible study and prayer group, we are going to have a simple Thanksgiving service on Wednesday evening. Every Sunday and Wednesday we read the Bible together, talk over the scriptures, and pray together – gathered around one of the tables on our block. While some blocks get taken to volunteer – led Bible studies each week, our block is hit and miss. So there was a need for Bible study, and the guys asked me to lead it. Each week we have 3-5 people studying and praying together. We have been reading through the Gospel of Mark, along with other verses the guys find meaningful from their personal Bible reading.

One of my big thanksgivings is for that study group. It has been amazing to read the scriptures with my fellow inmates, seeing the Gospel of Mark through their eyes. Like in Mark 1:14, “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee…” We looked at a map. John, Jesus’s cousin, was arrested and was taken to Jerusalem. Jesus went north over 70 miles to Galilee. Why? Because when people start getting arrested around you, you get out of town. And in Mark 3:17, James and John are called the “Sons of Thunder,” which sounds a lot like TVs “Sons of Anarchy.” So the guys picture James and John in black leather jackets with “Sons of Thunder” across the back. In 12:42 a widow gives her only money – two coins worth a penny – to the temple treasury. And the guys wanted to know why all those rich people weren’t helping out that widow (as Jesus had in 12:40 – “They devour widow’s houses.”) And in 14:10, when Judas went to betray Jesus, there was universal scorn for someone who sells out a friend – “betrayal is unforgivable.” It has been a blessing to discover again the power of the words of Mark.

So on Wednesday evening at 6 PM we will be reading Colossians 1:11-12: “May you be made strong with all the stength that comes from His glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father….” And we will name the things we are thankful for as we offer our praises to God. I am thankful for your prayers, and cards, letters, phone calls, visits, books, commissary money for instant coffee and colgate and deoderant. I am thankful for hot showers and a thin mat to sleep on, for my Bible and prayer book, for hope and strength and moments of joy. I am thankful for God watching out for my family and loved ones in ways I can’t. And I am thankful for the greatest wife and helpmate in the world, and that each day is one day closer to being back home for Thanksgiving dinner to gather around the table, hold hands, and give thanks.

What are you thankful for? Have you thought about it lately? Have you given voice to it? Before you dig into your fantastic turkey dinner, or whatever you are eating on Thursday, take a minute, and give thanks.