Rejoice

 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5:16-18)

I got a phone call this afternoon, a friend letting me know that my dog was at her place safe and sound. She’d torn out the window screen over my bed and squeezed out sideways, falling more than 5 feet. Since there was stuff under the window, I’m amazed she didn’t break her leg or her neck. We’re near the back gate, and the road outside the gate is busy. Fortunately, she doesn’t seem to have gone out said gate. She did this last year, with a window much closer to the ground, which is why I either put a metal grate over the window or close it and turn on the air. I never thought she could get out the bedroom window, with its jalousie windows.

So, at the moment, I’m rejoicing and thankful that she seems none the worse for the adventure, and I’m giving thanks for that and for the friends and neighbors who caught the little brat. And I’m praying, “Lord, how do I fix the window and what do I have to do to keep her from doing this again?” What I’d like to do is scream at her and beat her within an inch of her life, and somehow get it through her tiny, toy skull that she is never, ever to do that again. Remember the teacher from the Peanuts cartoons.

And, I want to say that all that is probably not what Paul had in mind when he wrote, “Rejoice always…give thanks in all circumstances. But the Ven diagram for always and all is a big circle. There are no other circles to be considered. Always means always. All means all. But we like to think that we or our situations are the exceptions. And I am rejoicing while I rant and giving thanks while I consider what could have happened.

Curiously, I had a conversation with a friend this morning about the sermon at her church. The pastor had talked about pausing when something happens, and choosing  a response instead of just going off (AKA reacting.) I also think of the things I was taught about dogs. If you don’t correct them when they’re doing something, there’s no use. Yelling at Grace after the fact won’t make her learn. Come to think of it, yelling at me before, during, or after the fact doesn’t make me learn either, though during might gain cooperation.

Of course, there’s another place where today’s passage is crucial. There are a lot of people who aren’t happy about the current administration in our government. “Rejoice always.” They say the election was stolen. “Pray continually.” They say we’re headed down a dangerous path. “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Pause to consider how to proceed, because yelling, protesting, rioting, looting, assaulting, murdering, occupying, using foul language, calling names, impeaching people – none of those things are God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Rejoice while you rant if you must. Give thanks while you consider what to do.