When I was in college, our parish
needed several pews for a remodeling project. Each pew had a small plaque
about the donor's reason. Most read In memory of...
as is customary in the
Episcopal Church. One older, very wealthy widow asked for the inscription
Donated by decimus leper
which is Latin for tenth leper.
On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus cured ten lepers and sent them to the priests (Luke 17:11-19). One of the ten came back to Jesus to thank him. Jesus made a big deal out of the man saying thank you especially because he was a hated Samaritan.
Next Thursday is Thanksgiving. Before I retired, I always took my staff out for lunch and asked each to list their blessings. Without exception, those born in foreign countries always started off with living in America.
My dear friend Father Stockton always
tells me family first
. My adult twin sons and I live together. One is living
his dream of working on cars and was promoted to assistant manager earlier this
year. The other twin moved here recently to put his life back on track. He is
in college and has recently found a job.
As for me, I give thanks because
all of my bills are paid. We have a roof over our heads and a warm pillow at
night. As Uncle Robie would put it, we have beans on the table.
We have
three old cars but they get us where we need to go. While none of this is
fancy, our needs are met.
I am blessed to be able to worship the Father my way. Christ Episcopal Church fulfills my needs for a structured service on Sunday mornings. Each Sunday evening, I join a good friend from college at a Bible Study at his church.
Perhaps, the best blessing this year is the opportunity to write these meditations for you. I want to thank Kevin Cheri for giving me a real purpose. I love to write and I have the time. I have about half a dozen proofreaders including two priests who review these meditations before I submit them to Kevin. I thank the Father for each and every one of them.
What are your blessings?
Grace and peace in the power of the Holy Spirit.
(J. Wesley McComb is a published author and a member of Christ Episcopal Church, 1534 7th St, Slidell, 643-4531.)
© by The Slidell Independent newspaper; originally published on November 19, 2009. Used by permission of publisher and author.