thanksgiving and promises
In Amos the Creator wanted justice, here we're asked to offer thanksgiving and vows. As you participate in your community's traditions this season, how can you interact with the Divine with gratitude?
Psalm 50:10-11
For mine is every wild animal of the forest, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains and everything that moves in the field is mine.
Psalm 50 takes a bit of time expressing all the things the Creator doesn't need from us: burnt offerings, sacrifices, bulls, goats, the list goes on.
It reminds me of the passage in Amos 5 where the Creator despises feasts, solemn assemblies, fattened cattle, and songs and harps.
In both examples, we're reminded that tradition isn't what the Creator wants from us.
Could it be because traditions aren't for the Creator... they're for us.
Traditions are rituals that help us position our minds and spirits; sacrifices, feasts, offerings, songs... those things don't magically manifest anything from the Creator. Those are all things meant to orient us into holy spaces.
After all, what can we create with our hands that is new under the sun? What can we offer that wasn't created by Them to begin with?
Unlike Amos where the Creator wanted justice, we're asked only for thanksgiving and vows in this passage.
As you participate in your community's traditions this season, how can you include gratitude as part of your interactions with the Divine?
--Katelin Champion