As we stand on the threshold of the Christmas Season, we look back and reflect on all that we have been through over the past months of 2020. What stand out first and foremost are the trials brought on by the notorious coronavirus. Trials they were, and trials they are, for our faith as a people is still tried, even as cases of infections continue to rise in hotspots around the world. And though we cannot be certain where the miseries of COVID-19 will lead us, we can be yet thankful to God for sustaining us in our trials, knowing that trials results in patience.
Today, I reflect upon many years past, even as a child, at the dawning of a New Year. I would be seated in the old musty church hall with my parents and siblings. A band of brethren would be praying and praising and – well – waiting for the clock to strike twelve midnight. It was an event of hope — a new beginning — a time that was traditionally known as “Watch-night Service”. I was always eager, like most of us children were, for the dawn of the new day, January 1st, when the New Year would be ushered in.
Upon that 12 o’clock hour, the church would break out into a frenzy of rejoicing, and everyone would take turns to “testify” and give thanks for the past year, while beseeching the Lord to guide their steps, “keep them keeping on” and to protect them in the months ahead. But I always waited for the testimony of old, faithful Pastor Rogers. Religiously, every year, without fail, he would staunchly stand and declare: “God holds the key to all unknown, and I am glad. If other hands would hold the key, or if He entrusted it to me, I might be sad.” I since came to realise that he quoted the words of an immortal hymn of the 1800s from Joseph Parker’s pen.
The moral behind Parker’s song, to which my devout Pastor alluded ever so often, is that only God knows what will take place in the future. Only He can see beyond the here-and-now. He alone has the key, and he alone opens up the doors of the future to humanity — one day at a time.
But, what if on last New Year’s morning, God had given mankind a look at the months ahead. No doubt, many of us would have collapsed and wallowed in sadness just to glimpse the global effects of COVID-19: the lockdowns that interrupted businesses and depleted global economies; the loss of jobs and the deprivation of personal income; the closure of borders that prevented normal travel; the disturbance of education programmes at every level; and the sickness and deaths. Oh what calamity. Would we have been able to stand the view of the future after we said goodbye to February?
Giving thanks when life is good, and times are prosperous, is quite easy. But when life takes a turn towards adversity, we become more prone to whine and complain than to be grateful.
In the year1620, a ship called the Mayflower left the port of Plymouth in England, sailing west. The occupants were a group of religious folk who came to be known as Pilgrims. They were in search of a better land, as they wanted to escape from the English religious persecution of the day.
The Pilgrims dropped anchor in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and developed villages with plantations for their survival. In November 1621, after their first corn harvest proved successful, Governor William Bradford organised a celebratory feast of thanksgiving. In every year that followed, whether their harvest was bountiful or lean, the Pilgrims gave thanks. They had set aside the last Thursday in November as a day of gratitude to God. That day soon became known as Thanksgiving Day.
In Massachusetts, and other American states – this year, Thanksgiving Day would have been observed on a rather low-keyed basis, in light of the looming pandemic which continues to play havoc in several states. As such, the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has warned against the usual Thanksgiving Day fanfare where friends and family would usually get together, at thanksgiving parties, and celebrate at large. But Americans, and mankind in general, are still required, as Don Moen sings, to “Give thanks with a grateful heart; give thanks to the Holy One.” For God says: “Where the twos and threes are gathered in my name, I am there to bless.”
Despite the ravages and inconveniences brought on by the COVID pandemic, we can be still rejoice; we can still be thankful. Though we would have experienced many setbacks and disappointments this year, we can be still grateful to a God who expects us to give thanks in everything. May we find the grace within us to be thankful in everything — and rejoice in whatever might be the circumstances.
