Have you ever picked up a new book and flipped straight to the last page? I think that most individuals have an intense desire to know everything. We don't want to wait the 300 pages it takes to get to the conclusion that the author planned. Instead, we just want all the answers, and we want them now! The problem with reading the last page first is that you've just ruined the whole story for yourself. There is no longer suspense and enjoyment in the unfolding of the story - there will be no surprises.
A few weeks back, our family was discussing just this - how even in a time of so many unknowns, we don't actually want to know the answers to a lot of our questions. The answers would ruin this journey that we are on. Sure, on the dark days, we'd like to be able to see one, five, ten, even twenty years into the future. We'd like to see where God's plan for my Dad is leading him. The problem is, I don't think those answers would satisfy us as we would hope. We might be severely let down - and that knowledge could very well taint every moment we have from now on. Alternatively, we might be filled with joy - but that joy could rob the joy of future milestones and surprises.
Our family's story at this moment is "like we are holding in our hands some pages torn out of a book" (Epic by John Eldredge). These pages are a fragment of the story. We aren't sure exactly how the previous pages have led us here and we aren't quite sure where these pages will lead us. What we do know is that these pages are scary and sad, yet they are also filled with so many "slow loved filled moments" (a prayer my sister-in-law has prayed for our family).
These pages that we hold have the power to cause an emotional roller-coaster. Some hours are great - filled with celebrations about the big (and little) things. Some hours are hard - filled with questions, doubts and fears. The silver lining here is that “...the secret to joy is to keep seeking God where we doubt He is.” (One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Life Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp). The great thing about Ann Voskamp's words here is that joy is infectious and it changes your mindset. When you're happy, you reflect on the reason for that joy and give thanks to whatever it is that is causing you so much joy.
With that I give you a challenge. A challenge to Eucharisteo. Eucharisteo comes from Luke, “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them … ” (22:19). In Greek, "he gave thanks" actually reads "eucharisteo". Ann Voskamp calls this Eucharisteo "the crux of Christianity: to remember and give thanks." Why does she believe in eucharisteo's pivotal place in Christianity? "Because remembering with thanks is what causes us to trust; to really believe. Re-membering, giving thanks, is what makes us a member again of the body of Christ. Re-membering, giving thanks is what puts us back together again in this hurried, broken, fragmented world."
“Eucharisteo—thanksgiving—always precedes the miracle.”
One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp
- Erin
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