This morning, I opened my personal calendar/journal – not the one I use for work, but rather the one that serves as a brain dump of all the things I want to remember. It’s the one where I deposit all the good stuff, like inspirational stickers, quotes, and scriptures. Planted right in the middle of this week was a bright yellow sticky note with a verse I had copied more than a week ago:
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
—Psalm 107:1 (NRSV)
I instantly knew exactly when and why I put it there. It was part of a 30-day gratitude challenge: read five psalms each morning and list a minimum of five gifts or blessings daily. Psalm 107 was an excerpt from those readings. I had placed the note on an upcoming calendar page so I would be sure to revisit it. I have done some type of gratitude challenge each fall for many years. Oftentimes, those simple activities have spilled over into longer observances that have made a huge difference in seeing life through a more grateful lens.
It is now November – the time we reflect on our many blessings and look intentionally for ways to live more generously and become more thankful. For musicians, specifically those in music ministry, it is also a time when we can barely keep up with our ever-growing bullet lists. Our energy stores are taxed as we pour every ounce of ourselves into worship and special event planning, preparation, and production. If we aren’t careful, we will ask too much of ourselves and accordingly expect just as much from our very best resource – the people in our ensembles. Who on earth normalized this behavior? There it is: who on earth? Surely God is not the composer of this!
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
—James 1:17 (NRSV)
God’s gifts are abundant and perfect – exactly what we need at exactly the right time. Sometimes we are so busy we miss the gift even amid our attempts to express our gratitude to the Giver. We will never be able to out-gratitude God who seats us at a table where the plates and cups continually overflow. God plans the menu with goodness and mercy. How can we be anything less than grateful?
Consider those who seem to have the greatest needs, who lack the most, or who are in some sort of crisis. What I often see are smiling faces with genuine joy and appreciation of life, grateful for even the simplest action on their behalf. Perhaps that is what gratitude looks like.
Let’s take a music ministry gratitude challenge: sometime this month, make a list of every member of one of your ensembles. Consider each name and write one thing that elicits a feeling of gratitude when you think of that person. Is it their dedication and participation? Is it their attitude or demeanor? Is this person battling terrible pain, mobility issues, or other health concerns, yet shows up weekly with a smile? Perhaps this person is not the most skillful musician in the group, yet they work diligently to learn and achieve.
I’ll start:
A… makes me laugh every single week.
B… challenges me to be a better director.
C… participates joyfully in every part of each rehearsal.
D… runs to rehearsal every week (obviously, not an adult choir member!)
E… offers to sit by new choir members and show them the ropes.
F… keeps me humble!
How different my life and ministry would be without each of these amazing people!
A few short years ago, we found out just how empty life would be without music ensembles in worship. On a Wednesday night in March of 2020, we closed the final prayer in choir rehearsal with an amen that would last far longer than we ever dreamed. We so hungered for that community that new, innovative ways to gather were born – virtual choir, online rehearsals, outdoor worship – keeping in touch by every possible means.
As Thanksgiving 2020 drew near, I especially wanted to reach out to my children’s choir. The message of our hymn of the month was one every single person needed – adults as well as children. And so, I sent a greeting card to each family and enclosed a hymn story to share on Thanksgiving Day about a person who found gratitude in the bleakest of times. I think we still need this message in 2025.
Now Thank We All Our God is translated from the German hymn Nun danket alle Gott, written by Martin Rinkart in 1636. Rinkart was a Lutheran minister. During the Thirty Years War he was a pastor in Ellenburg, a city filled with political and military fugitives seeking refuge. He and his family opened their home to refugees as the city became overcrowded and food and other resources were depleted. It is said that as the only surviving minister during the plague of 1637, he conducted as many as 50 funerals each day.
Imagine being in that time and place and sitting down to write the words of this hymn as a table grace for his family:
Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things has done, in whom his world rejoices;
who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.
The people of 2020 could learn much from Martin Rinkart about gratitude. May we thank God with our hearts and hands and voices this Thanksgiving as well, whether we gather with family or spend a quiet day at home. In either case we are truly not alone – now thank we all our God!
Rinkart’s story brings to mind so many people around me bearing life in the most adverse circumstances, and yet many of them never voice a complaint. They have found eyes to see the perfect gifts of their Father. I am so grateful for all they continually teach me about gratitude.
It truly is hard to complain when I see my plate so full and my cup pouring over the brim. In gratitude I ask, “Whose cup can I fill?” There is always enough to give away! “Now thank we all our God!”
Oh, remember that bright yellow sticky note? I just moved it ahead to another week.
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
