Turkey Dinner Prep
Word From Wiese
November 19, 2025
Why do dogs take such a long time to sniff a patch of grass while out on a walk? Why do flies buzz around so sporadically? It’s because most of what a creature actually senses is invisible to us.
Pulitzer Prize winning science writer Ed Yong wrote a book about these questions, called An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us. I haven’t yet read the book, but listening to Ed on a podcast was fascinating.
Of particular intrigue to me was how hummingbirds and insects approach flowers in ways we cannot. Because many can see ultraviolet light, bumblebees can distinguish which flowers have been visited already. Therefore, they’re efficient in their flower-visitation process and the pollination thrives.
Birds can navigate the open ocean by smell. Penguins sense vibrations underground with their webbed feet and can retreat to higher ground before dangerously large waves arrive. On and on the examples run. Animals can sense reality more deeply than humans on many frontiers, one could argue.
How much more so for God?
I rejoice that God can see the redeeming qualities in certain people I cannot. That’s harsh. But you get what I mean (hopefully). Our Lord, who created each and every individual, sees, hears, and feels each one of us far more deeply and thoroughly than any other human being. God appreciates the wonder bubbling inside each of us. God knows the good accomplished through each of us and the dreams seeking to take flight. Likewise, God is able to forgive our foibles because he knows what biographical events damaged us while nudging us to grow in areas of redemption.
Remember this when you sit down at the Thanksgiving table next Thursday.
Some of you will delight in pure bliss. But some of you will be breaking bread with people whose opinions you do not agree. Whose approach to life or even their way of eating turkey grates on you. Like the lyrics of a fun country song profess, you might realize “I don’t like half the folks I love.” Maybe we can also remember the lyrics to another song, “if God can love turkeys, then God can love you. You are a turkey and I am one too.”
Just remember the lessons of God’s amazing creation.
It’s crazy that salmon can swim from the ocean into fresh-water rivers to the exact point where they were hatched. But they do. For salmon can sense realities you cannot. Likewise, it might be just as crazy that some of your tension-stirring turkey day tablemates can be loved by the same Lord that loves you. But God does. Because God senses realities about them you cannot. And the most fascinating news? God loves you in ways you cannot fathom, because our loving Lord appreciates you in ways you don’t even appreciate yourself. God knows you and delights in you.
That is a reality for which we can give thanks!
In Christ’s hope,
Pastor Fritz
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Hebrews 4:13
Reflection Question:
- What’s one hidden mystery about nature that fascinates you?
- Is there anyone with whom you’ll interact this Thanksgiving that will require an “extra measure of grace?” How might God help you see that person with new appreciation?
- What are three things for which you’ll be thankful this Thanksgiving?
Let us pray: Gracious God, you are the maker of all things, seen and unseen. You perceive the mysteries of creation that escape our senses, and you understand the hidden stories within every human heart. As we approach Thanksgiving, open our eyes a little wider to the wonders around us and the wonders within the people we gather with. Teach us to see others, even the difficult “turkeys” in our lives, through your generous eyes. Remind us that you love each of us more deeply than we can comprehend, and that your grace reaches places we cannot see. In Jesus’ name, Amen.