The Giving of Thanks, a Month Too Early

On this past Sunday, we celebrated Erntedankfest in our worship service at church. Erntedankfest is the German equivalent of American Thanksgiving (literally translated as the Festival of Thanks for the Harvest) and, to the best of my knowledge, is always celebrated on the first Sunday of October. In contrast to our American Thanksgiving, Erntedankfest is neither a national holiday nor an overtly family holiday; instead, Erntedankfest is a religious holiday, which is by-and-large only celebrated, or known, to Christians in Germany. At my congregation, we collected perishable food items for another after-school project in the city.

Much less pompous than our American tradition of giving thanks by preparing and consuming a feast with our families before passing out on the couch to watch football, this means of giving thanks is much less pompous, much more reflective, and much less for ourselves. I like that Erntedankfest begins standing before the altar rather than sitting at the table: rather than thanking God for what we have by feeding ourselves, we are feeding others; rather than only celebrating with our family and relatives, we are celebrating with our broader Christian family; rather than sitting in comfort at our own table in our own homes, we are standing, ready to act, before a common table in a house of worship…and in my opinion, if the giving of thanks should begin anywhere, it should begin in a house of worship.

In reflecting on this different (and likely more Christian) means of giving thanks for the harvest, I would like to share with you a reflection of many of the things, for which I am thankful, particularly reflecting on this past week and on my first month as a Mission Intern here in Berlin. In the words of Barbara Kingsolver, I am thankful that “God is in the details, the completely unnecessary miracles sometimes tossed up as stars to guide us.”

I am thankful for:

• Having enough food to eat and having the privilege to choose what I want to eat.
• Hearing a first grade student from Romania speak her first complete German sentence this week during our fall holiday language program („Das Bonbon ist da!“);
• And later seeing this same girl laugh and smile for the first time (after knowing her for one month).
• The arrival of beautiful fall weather.
• Receiving a package from my parents and savoring the first peanut butter cups and pieces of candy corn.
• Admiring the children's creations following an afternoon of boondoogling and crocheting!
• Living in a country that values reducing our environmental impact...particularly when that means spotting a postman on a scooter rather than on his standard bicycle (it was a full-grown man in postal uniform on an authentic scooter, like the ones 10-year-olds ride!).
• Introducing a friend from Russia to Döner Kebap (a Turkish-Berlin specialty) and ayran (a Turkish salty yogurt drink) for the first time.
• Having a place to live:

• Going for a run and getting soaked in a downpour the last five minutes.
• Having health insurance and access to medical care and chiropractic care in Germany (still a new medical concept here, I learned).
• Sunflower-seed German bread, fresh from the bakery.
• Having the internet in our office repaired!
• Baking pizza together with my friend Brandon and having a reunion with our Fulbright comrade Sam via skype.

• Reminiscing on my childhood while skimming through a new box of wonderful English children books!
• My wonderful co-workers, both here at the Kindertreff and the General Board of Global Ministries missionaries and young adult missionaries serving around the world.
• The crunch of leaves when I ride my bike.
• The religious freedom to take a group of teenage boys, both Muslims and Christians, on a field trip to the Şehitlik Mosque in celebration of the ‘Day of German Unity’ on October 3.
• Skyping with my whole family over the course of the week (albeit at separate times!).
• Utilizing all of my language skills in the course of one day: from teaching immigrant children German to continuing to learn Arabic, and even conversing with a Bulgarian mother on the phone in Turkish...it doesn’t get much better than that!
• Seeing joy, love, and adoration in children’s faces on a daily basis.

May these little miracles, these stars guide us in our giving of thanks, even if we are a month too early.