Raw Thoughts on Gratitude and Grief

Discerning the moment

“The church can’t survive on sentiment and nostalgia. Sentiment, nostalgia, optimism - these are weak thin fuels.” - Fleming Rutledge"

It’s early in the morning. I usually write my posts weeks in advance. So I have time to edit them. If they’re deeper theological posts, I try to get other people’s eyes on them for feedback. But this morning, Thanksgiving morning, I woke up early to sit down and just write some words from my heart. Not polished. Not neat.

Just raw.

(Source:¹)

Giving thanks when things aren’t the way you thought they would be is tough. Most often it’s pretty dysregulating. Normally for Thanksgiving my family and I go to Houston to celebrate with our extended family. It’s quite the scene to behold. We’ve been doing this since I was in high school. My Uncle Calvin moved from Illinois to Houston. The distance created a reason for us to be intentional with holidays. So he made it a staple. We always go to Houston, to his house, for Thanksgiving.

For twenty-five-some years this ha…