Overwhelmed With Thanksgiving

 

I started writing this Monday morning as I pondered this Thanksgiving week, I finished it just now.

 

Sometimes when I awaken in the morning my immediate goal is to make it from our second-floor bedroom to the coffee pot in our first-floor kitchen. In the midst of this groggy journey I am saying, “Good morning” to my Father, the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit; trying not to trip over our dog Lily or to fall down the stairs.

 

Then there are those other mornings in which I may awaken with a song in my heart; it may be an old glorious hymn, one of more recent vintage, or one birthed in my soul by our Lord for that particular morning.

 

But then…but then…there are those overwhelmingly glorious mornings when I awaken with fresh vision; a vision of Christ, a vision of His Word, a vision of His People, a vision of Others. To be sure, there are times when I wake up to a counterweight to this, to a burden for others, but burdens usually come a bit later in the day – I suppose our Lord knows that we can only bear so much and so He normally reserves the deep burdens and concerns for a bit later. These visionary mornings are exciting and overwhelming, my heart is alive, my soul has turned to spring – it is as if I am watching the first scenes of the Wizard of Oz straightway in Technicolor rather than black and white. This is one of those mornings.

 

This morning I have been seeing the many people I’ve known in my business career (multifamily management) who have been a blessing to work with, who have cared about others and who have made my life richer. I’ve been touching the texture of their lives, hearing their voices, seeing their smiles, tears, anxieties for others, concern for others and…yes…love for others. I have worked with people who have “rejoiced with those who have rejoiced, and who have wept with those who have wept,”

 

I have known people who, when presented with the opportunity to help others, have done so – all I needed to do was to ask, to show a client, the owner of an apartment community a need, and watch the response. I’ve had the honor of working for a man who built his company on a sincere desire to help others while providing his family and employees with a good living and his clients a good return on their investment. I have worked with countless good women and men, from the lowest paid to the highest paid in organizations, who have paid attention to others, tried to encourage others, and who have sought to make the lives of those around them just a little bit better. These are the people who have enriched my life. 

And the thing is, that much of whatever I’ve seen is only a small part of what has actually been there because I’ve always just been a visitor, always an outsider because of my organizational positions. A forty-hour workweek equates to 2,080 hours per year. If I spent one hour each week with each of my managers on their properties, that is 52 hours a year, 2.5% - a sliver of time, a window of time. As for the staffs of those managers, my interactions with them was more limited, but meaningful to me and I hope to them. Of course, as you weave a fabric of relationship with others you see patterns and depths, but you miss more than you’ll ever see or know about.

 

When I have seen studies of charitable giving over the years, one constant has been that “those who have less give more.” That is, people in states who have lower per capita income tend to give a greater percentage of their income to those in need. A long-time social worker once told me that this was very much her observation – whether it was financial giving or the sharing of other resources. I have seen this pattern in organizations too, those outside the corporate office tend to do more for others, tend to be more centered on others, than those closest to corporate power. Those in power tend to mouth the words, those in the nitty gritty of life don’t talk about giving to others, they just do it.  I imagine this is the way we are in society, including the church.

 

I write the above because I’m thinking about the time a resident was in the hospital and there was no one to take care of his dog, and the staff stepped up to the plate. I’m thinking about all the back-to-school backpacks I’ve seen filled by apartment community employees for the children in their communities. I’m picturing a manager deeply concerned over the care of a senior couple with disabilities, seeking help for them to transition to another living environment that would better suit their needs. There are the countless times people I have worked with have comforted their residents who have lost loved ones. The many times they have sought to provide food for others, especially during this season of the year. The times they have gathered around coworkers who have suffered the loss of family, collecting money for funerals.  

 

Then there has been the listening ear, the times when residents walk into a management office just to talk…because they may have no one else to talk to.

 

As for praying, in many of my apartment communities prayer was a way of life, it was natural for employees to pray with each other and with residents. This also meant that when I prayed with employees, or prayed with employees and residents, that I often wasn’t introducing anything new or novel into the work environment, I was simply doing what others were already doing.

 

The more I ponder all the people I am thankful for, the larger the group becomes – both within my business career and outside it. It is pretty much never-ending, for no sooner do I think of one person than I think of another. Yes, there are some particularly significant women and men, but then there is also the tapestry of them woven together.

 

As I write this at home, I’m reminded of the joy Vickie and I received from the last group of property managers I worked with before I retired. While I enjoyed being with each manager individually, I absolutely loved being with them as a group – I have never laughed with and enjoyed a group of people the way I laughed with and enjoyed this group – anywhere at any time – including in pastoral ministry – it was the best six or seven years I’ve ever had with a group of people.

 

I say “as I write this at home,” because we had them in our home many times over the years for breakfast, including the holidays – these were always special times with much laughter; yes we worked, but we worked in an atmosphere of joy. Whether we gathered in our home, in our corporate conference room, or in a restaurant, there was always laughter – what a memory to be thankful for!

 

I loved seeing them challenged, I loved seeing them grow, I loved seeing them interact with each other, encourage each other, and care about each other. I loved them, I really loved them. As a group I told them that I loved them. In fact, at other times when we had all of our employees together I told all of them that I loved them. God gave me a wonderful gift during those last few years before my retirement – he gave me a wonderful group of people to work with.

 

I think that I have always cared about the people who worked for me, but it wasn’t until those final years of my career that I came to deeply love people. This wasn’t my doing, it was the work of Christ, and particularly the work of Christ through others, and most especially the work of Christ through a colleague who has been a friend to Vickie and me over the years – a friend to me when I didn’t deserve it. As Jesus observed, “This one loves much because he/she has been forgiven much.” When we realize the depth of love that Christ gives us, both directly and through others, what else can we do but pass it on?

 

I have much to be thankful for today – most especially God’s gift of other people.