Thanksgiving week can spark gratitude in a year of losses. But this holiday season also stirs up grief as we remember what this year has given—and taken, and how unsure our future remains. So what does it look like to practice thankfulness and take heart as a long winter approaches?
On the latest episode of Quick to Listen, “Spiritual Formation as COVID-19 Gets More Depressing,” Christianity Today’s global media manager Morgan Lee and editorial director Ted Olsen welcomed Chris Hall, the president of Renovare, the spiritual formation organization started by Richard Foster. Hall emphasizes how “spiritual formation is deeply relational” during a time when isolation is often the best way to love our neighbors.
Hall, and the Bible, remind us that we are called to love others. And God does not call us to do things that he does not, by the power of the Holy Spirit, equip us to do. In our darkest moments—when we look at the world and the homes we’ve been stuck in for so long now that they seem to be closing in around us—God takes compassion on us.
He sees our suffering, our depression, our longing for life to be different. And he does not tell us to muster up gratitude or feign thankfulness. Rather, God draws near in our suffering. He bursts through our isolation and comforts us in our longing for others. The Spirit reminds us that God is the One who places the desire for communion and gathering within us. And while our sorrow may last for the COVID-19 night, joy promises to come in the morning.
