11/22/2022
My friend Shane Allen Burton wrote this article several years ago. He passed away recently and I am remembering him this Holiday season. Enjoy his Thanksgiving reflections and say a prayer for his family.
Jellied Cranberry Blessings
November 21, 2012
1 Peter 4:7-11
"Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and He'll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!"
My favorite food on the planet is jellied cranberries. You know, that cylindrically-shaped maroon hunk of tart-tasting jellied substance which glops out of the can into a bowl upon which time, you cut it into half-inch slices which await your dining pleasure. Yes, strangely enough, this is my favorite food. It has been all the way back to Kindergarten when Mrs. Sernek invited us all to draw our favorite food. I colored a red circle. She thought that I didn't get the assignment and so she failed my drawing (can you do that in Kindergarten?!). When we had parent-teacher conferences, Mrs. Sernek expressed her concern over my development because I didn't understand how to draw my favorite food. My parents started laughing as soon as they saw the picture. They knew what it was and they understood why she didn't get it.
I remember days in school when we had jellied cranberries. Most kids couldn't stand 'em. Those days were happy days for me! "Pass your cranberries down to Shane! He'll take 'em all!"
I remember another time when they had served beets at school for lunch. They too were maroon circular slices. I took one bite and well…that was the end of lunch for me and several others sitting around me.
There are times when I will purchase a small can of this delectable slime, pop it open, and down it in a couple of bites. (If you're feeling ill right now, please take a break...it gets better...or worse, depending upon your point of view on jellied cranberries!) I love this stuff. And now we're coming to the one week out of the year when I have permission to down as much of it as I can possibly handle. My favorite thing to do is to get some wonderful turkey gravy and pour it over the cranberries. MMMmmm...that mixture of salty gravy and sweet, tart cranberries...I'm salivating.
But you know what? I take my cranberries for granted. I just assume each Thanksgiving they'll be there. I take turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, and especially jellied cranberries for granted. Sometimes I take my beautiful wife and my six children for granted. I just assume they'll be there no matter what. I often take my car and my house for granted as well. I just assume that when I put the key in the ignition, some fuel will be injected into the cylinder which will compress it and a spark will then ignite it creating a small explosion and the internal combustion process will begin and I will be on my way. I assume that when I come home, I will enter a warm house with cupboards which have food in them. I take my friends for granted, just assuming they'll be there, even if I'm not. In fact, I even take God for granted sometimes...leaving Him the leftovers of my life asking Him to tidy things up for me.
In this first letter from Peter, he reminds us that we're living in a time when everything is about to be wrapped up...we don't know the hour or the day...but it's going to happen sometime. He's reminding us that because of this, we are to take nothing for granted...NOTHING. Don't even take your e-mail for granted (which you're using at this very moment). Don't take the chair you're sitting upon for granted. Don't take friends or family for granted. Don't take simple pleasures for granted. Don't take jellied cranberries for granted...and certainly don't take God for granted.
He says that we're supposed to love each other as if our lives depended on it. And my friends, I believe that they do. I believe our lives do depend on us loving each other. Because there will come a time in all of our lives, that something or someone we take for granted will not be there at the critical moment, and in that moment, our lives may very well depend upon the love we have for each other.
And certainly, there are those around us whose lives will depend on whether or not we love in this way. Certainly, this week before Thanksgiving, there are many who took much for granted, only to find themselves sorely lacking, not feeling like they have much for which to be very thankful.
As we gather with family and friends to stuff ourselves like the very turkeys we'll consume, there will be many who would feel stuffed if they even had one of the dinner rolls we'll toss away when we're all done, because they haven't had the luxury of a full meal in days. We're going to have leftovers for days from the one meal we'll consume this Thursday. While many will have only the leftovers from a dumpster upon which to dine as their very meal for which they'll give thanks. I'm not exaggerating.
Peter's reminder here to us is that God has given us a bounty of blessings of which we are not to hoard unto ourselves, but to share generously with those around us. If we share of that with we which are blessed, it will be as if the very hands of God had reached out to those in need to give them food for their bellies, a blanket for their cold bodies, a place to stay other than the cold streets upon which we ride in our chariots of gold. When we share a kind word, it is as if the mouth of God has spoken a blessing. When the love of Jesus Christ is allowed to well up within us, it will pour forth from our hearts and spill out into all those around us.
When we stop and take stock of all with which we have been blessed, including the endless love of God as expressed through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son Jesus, we cannot help but for our hearts to break for humanity in the same way God's heart breaks.
What do you take for granted? Make a list today of that which you take for granted. And then make time and take time to thank God for those things in your life. And when you look at your list and you see the people which you take for granted, then why don't you thank them for being who they are to you?
Peter tells us not only to stop taking things for granted, but to share these very things with those in need. It is not enough to simply feel badly for those whose plights are worse than ours. We are to take action. We are to be generous with our words, yes. But we are to be generous with all with which we have been blessed. We are to feed the hungry. We are to give a bed to the homeless...and we are to do so cheerfully.
This Thanksgiving, as you dine with those whom you love, remember what it is to be thankful. Remember your blessings. Praise God for them. Do not let yourselves take anyone or anything for granted. Tell the people you love that you love them. Praise God for the food. Praise God for your life. And ask God to open the eyes of your heart to see the world around you in the way that He sees it so you will be able to see the opportunities you are being given each day to be generous with all that God has given you.
I'll bet you never thought that jellied cranberries could be so profound, huh? But when they're passed around the table this year, stop and praise God for 'em, even if you don't like 'em. Let them be a reminder to you...let them be a symbol of blessing. When the cranberries come to you, stop for a moment and thank God.
Pass the cranberries! Oh yeah, could I get some gravy too?
Happy Thanksgiving, dear friend.
