Rapid Rewind

Scripture
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him – and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?  Has no-one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?’  Then he said to him, ‘Rise and go; your faith has made you well.’ (Luke 17:15-19 NIV)

Rapid Rewind

Two hard frosts knocked the life out of a glorious profusion of flowers and herbs I planted five months ago. Thanksgiving Monday I dug and pulled, shook roots, and dropped the plants in the brown bag for collection. It felt like a film was being rewound to the days not long before when I carefully selected plants and their growth was enjoyed for the five months. The fifteen pots and four raised planters were now empty of all but soil – a bleak sight.

We have seasons of life like this where it feels like we are back where we started. The promise that we always progress upwards, and forwards gets kicked a bit and we wonder where it is all taking us.  But that same Monday I joined with my brother’s and our families to share a day. Cousins who once played together on the fields now joined their spouses in playing with their own kids to do the same.

Finding time to say “thank you” with a sense of wonder and not entitlement is a common challenge. Finding reasons to give thanks even in the midst of bleak times is also a challenge.  Jesus was accosted by ten men with infectious skin diseases – outcasts from healthy society. He sent them to meet with a priest but enroute they discovered their skin was healthy.

One man returned (and he was a social outcast for other reasons) not only to say thank you but also to praise God. Too often I’m one of the nine and forget not only to thank God but also praise God for moments of health and hope in the midst of the bleakness.

A Prayer for Today

O God who is with us in all of life, when you watch our lives do even one in ten of us say thank you? Even in the toughest times you promise your presence, in creation, friends and family and Spirit. Help us to pull away from the majority and take the time and energy to say “Thank You” and “Praise God”, not because you need it but because it frees us to be hopeful and generous.  …. For Jesus’ sake