As anyone who has lost a loved one knows, Thanksgiving, like Christmas, can be an emotional time. The absence from a familiar seat, the stories and jokes not told, the embrace not given are all painfully felt. For those who know the biblical injunction, however, it is a necessity to “give thanks in all circumstances.”
My family certainly did our best to heed that call this week, even though my uncle, James H. Deavel, died on Wednesday at the age of 84. Though we were not going to celebrate Thanksgiving with him or his widow, Arlene, his loss still leaves a hole in our family. It also gives us an occasion for thanksgiving for the strange ways of Providence. For the very presence of Uncle Jim in the lives of my late parents, my brother, me, and our families is itself a wonderful gift and opportunity for healing that we never expected or asked—but which God in his goodness saw fit to give us.
Read Full Article »