The Fabric of Our Faith

During this season of Thanksgiving, we are drawn to the underlying structure of what we believe as people of God. We take part in the blessed and honored ritual of giving thanks to God for all that God prepares, protects, enriches, and preserves for our lives, which is not expressed nearly enough throughout the year.

I remember an advertising campaign that featured images of babies, children, and teens involved in various activities, showing a snapshot of their daily lives, and in the background a gentle song was playing. That ad "jingle" eventually became very popular as well as the ad at that time, and it is often replayed during this time of year. The ad campaign was called "Cotton: The Fabric of Our lives" and the song was called The Fabric of Our Lives.

That highly successful ad campaign for cotton genuinely struck a chord of connection as it framed cotton as part of the things that constitute the fabric of our lives. As we come to another season where we seek to give thanks to God, we should also be clear about what constitutes the fabric of our faith in the God we give our thanks to.

Our thankfulness does not come from earthly spiritual and traditional practices that seem to produce a sense of well being but are not rooted in the new order that God created with Jesus as its exemplar. One of the places that we can find the fabric of our faith laid out is in the Bible passage found in Colossians 1:11-20, which is foundational.

Please take time and read the entire first chapter of Colossians to gain a greater measure of the teachings that outline the fabric of faith from its author Paul. As you do, note the circumstances surrounding thanks giving and consider how to incorporate that way of giving thanks this year. Also, pay close attention to verses 13 through 20 of the first chapter as those that focus on the nature of the One, who more than anything else, we are most thankful for every day of our lives. May our thanks giving be woven into the fabric of our faith.