Thanksgiving

“…give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God…” (I Thessalonians 5:18a)

Grace:

Particularly at Thanksgiving, St. Paul’s admonition to give thanks in all circumstances is readily affirmed by most Christians and persons of other faiths too.  However, the statement that giving thanks in all circumstances is “God’s will” may strike a particularly discordant note to one whose life is in tangles or to one who struggles with a serious illness or a deep hurt or grief. Once, when I was in a particularly awful situation, I found myself responding with anger to these words. I questioned how I could be expected to give thanks; perhaps I confused giving thanks in all circumstances with giving thanks for such a circumstance. Over time, I have seen how deeply my spiritual life has been shaped by attention to gratitude and thanks to God in every circumstance. In fact, it is in the most bitter of circumstances that my spirit is lifted when I realize just how many blessings abound, even in the midst of suffering. What has your own faith tradition taught you about thanksgiving?

Yasmina:

Upon reading your reflections, I remembered how as a child I was taught that the etiquette for replying to someone’s “How are you?” is to say first Alhamdulillah, which means, All praise and thanks are due to God.  In fact, it is sometimes the only thing a Muslim answers, eliminating the need to give further details. As an adult, I have come to appreciate the five daily prayers—or seventeen cycles of prayer—I am commanded to perform every day because my preoccupation with daily life can divert my attention from “giving thanks in all circumstances.” Knowing that I have to plan my day according to the times during which I need to perform those prayers helps me to refocus, reflect, and transcend my worries and pain, as well as remember the bounties I have been blessed with. Muslims, who stop whatever they are doing to engage in the prescribed prayers to recite the opening sentence of each of the seventeen cycles, find themselves in a state of thanksgiving as they say these words: “Praise be to God the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds.” (al-Fatihah 1:2)

Tziporah:

Grace, I am glad you raised this question and grateful for your emphasis on giving thanks in all circumstances.  I, too, have found myself in difficult circumstances struggling to recognize the blessings in my life.  According to Jewish tradition, a person is supposed to recite a blessing upon hearing bad news, in particular the news that someone has died. The prescribed blessing is “Praised is the True Judge.” I have often choked out these words, against my will, without the proper intention of praising God.  But I believe that it is appropriate to say the words of praise or thanks without truly feeling them and hope that feelings of praise and thanks will eventually follow. The early rabbis taught, “One is obligated to bless upon the bad as he would upon the good….” (Mishnah Berakhot 5:5) Perhaps Paul and the early rabbis were responding to a natural human tendency that they observed: While it is not easy for a person in pain to offer thanks to God, there are always things for which to be thankful; and it is a worthy endeavor to offer thanks even when it is difficult to do so.

No Trick or Treat

“You shall not do as is done in the land of Egypt in which you lived, and you shall not do as is done in the land of Canaan to which I’m bringing you; and you shall not go by their laws. (Leviticus 18:3)

Tziporah:

As a young girl, I always celebrated Halloween with my Jewish and non-Jewish friends. We would carve pumpkins and bob for apples at elaborate costume parties, and, of course, we would trick-or-treat in the neighborhood.  As an adult working in a Jewish day school, I learned that these Halloween rituals are not universally accepted among American Jews. Some school administrators considered the mere mention of Halloween taboo and encouraged teachers to assign the usual amount of homework on October 31^st.  Unlike Thanksgiving and July 4^th, Halloween causes discomfort among some Jews because of its pagan roots and Christian associations with the holiday, including the observance of All Hallows’ Eve and All Saints’ Day.  While they may also forego Valentine’s Day, I suspect these Jews are more uncomfortable with Halloween because of its association with death and its emphasis on ghouls, goblins, witches and sorcery.  Many Jewish festivals, most notably the fall harvest holiday of Sukkot, incorporate what were likely pagan rituals. The ancient rabbis recognized that people would be unwilling to give up their participation in seasonal celebrations, and so they Judaicized them—imbued them with Jewish religious meaning.  I wonder if modern rabbis would be willing to attempt a similar adaptation of Halloween.

Grace:

Even though the name Halloween and its origin, All Hallows’ Eve, are associated with All Saints’ Day, I know of no Christian denomination in this country that observes Halloween as a religious holiday. All Saints’ Day, followed by All Souls’ Day, is indeed a sacred observance in Catholic tradition, but Halloween, as I know it, remains a secular holiday.  In recent years, some, primarily non-denominational, Christian churches have objected to Halloween as a glorification of witches and demons and the forces of darkness.  However, it occurs to me that Halloween could be seen from a religious perspective—actually in all faiths—as a mocking of the forces of darkness that the light of God inevitably overcomes. As Martin Luther’s famous hymn “A Mighty Fortress is our God” states: “And though this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us/We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us.” Of course, when it comes to Halloween, I am personally a “scaredy cat,” so no trick-or-treat for me this year!

Request for our Muslim readers:

We are curious and would love to read about how American Muslims celebrate Halloween.  Please let us know in the comments section of the blog, or email your response to sheanswersabraham@gmail.com.

Yasmina is on vacation this week.

Figs and Olives

“In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate, by the fig and the olive and by Mount Sinai and by this trustworthy land, truly We have created the human being of the fairest symmetry.” (al-Tin, 95:1-4)

Tziporah:

This passage in the Quran jumped off the page at me, first and foremost because it mentions two of the seven species of the Land of Israel that are also mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Figs and olives are known to be especially nutritious foods for humans, and are regarded by some as having healing properties. In these verses, the fruits seem to represent witnesses to an oath about humanity’s connection to the land and to God.  I was also struck by the juxtaposition of Mount Sinai—where God bestowed the Torah (law) upon Moses—with the land which God promised the people they would inhabit.  Since the remainder of the sura discusses morality and divine justice, it seems to me that the Prophet [Peace and Blessings be upon him] is reminding us that human beings must be attuned to the natural world in order to be attuned to the supernatural Presence.

Yasmina:

Tziporah, several Surats in the Quran contain oaths. Since the Quran is the word of God revealed to the Prophet [Peace and Blessings be upon him], there is an emphasis on the oaths, which are considered to be of great importance. Humans—including all prophets—may not swear by any creation; only God can do that. Scholars agree that here God is swearing by the olive and fig trees due to their benefits to humans and some add that these trees are mentioned as a symbol of the Bayt al Maqdis where Jesus [Peace and Blessings be upon him] received his message from God. The first three segments of the oath are correctly translated, but the fourth should read “and by this secure city,” not “trustworthy land.”  This refers to Mecca where the Quran was first revealed. Consequently, I view the meaning of this text from a different perspective. The Surat is a humble reminder of the greatness of God’s wisdom and justice in creating humans and holding them accountable for their actions.

Grace:

The poetic imagery of this beautiful quotation conjures for me an Eden, where God the Creator proclaimed all of creation good. Of course, the Creation story embraced by my faith tradition shows also that sin came into the world and that Adam, archetype of all humanity, hid his shame with a fig leaf! I think our spiritual journeys are about rediscovering Eden as we learn to view creation—including ourselves and other humans—with eyes trained to see through what we may otherwise be tempted to call deformed, grotesque, dirty or spoiled. Beauty must reside too in the “eye of the beholder” to recognize beauty in all. God, the Merciful, the Compassionate, the supreme Beholder, sees human beings, even with all our flaws, as an extension of all that is good.  Our challenge is to go to the Mount, descend to the valley and, as the Psalmist recommends, “taste and see that the Lord is good.”