By Elizabeth Conde-Frazier
I thank my God for you every time I think of you; and every time I pray for you all, I do it with joy because of the way you have helped me in the work of the gospel from the first day until now (Philippians 1:3-4).
Thankfulness. When we think of giving thanks, our mind goes to the things that went as we wished, the prayers answered as we asked, the things that brought us pleasure and joy. What else can there be? I am thankful for the things that are related to my life's journey. The times that prayers were not answered as I had hoped, but God walked with me through the rough terrain. The ways that rough terrain helped me grow as a person. I thank God for things that years later, in retrospect, turned out much better in the long run. I saved myself some headaches when that road closed in on me.
But what do we do with the things that were really wrong, that have no good explanation, that even caused trauma and left an indelible mark on our lives for no good reason? A good friend recently wrote a book (Cradled in the Arms of Compassion) on these issues where he talks about his own trauma with sexual abuse and the harrowing journey of his life because of it. He sees in his trauma the likeness of Jesus' abuse at the crucifixion and the compassion he receives from those who love him through the small kindnesses they shower upon his life in those moments. The image of the pietà, (meaning pity or compassion), a sculpture commissioned by a French cardinal living in Rome, depicts Mary sadly contemplating the corpse of her son that she holds in her lap. For my friend the sculpture becomes a special symbol of how God is with him. My friend is grateful to God for all those kind people along the way of his healing. On a journey like this we can't always say thank you because we are too hurt, too angry and struggling just to survive.
I urge you, on this occasion of thanksgiving, to become people of goodness that others can then look back on and say thank you to God for His goodness that represents God's compassion and companionship in the part of our lives where we have not yet emerged from the difficult onto the path of healing.