What are you thankful for? Family? Friends? Your home? The gift of Jesus? I’m also thankful for these things, but this year I’m adding a new item to my list of things for which to give God thanks—perspective.

In the foyer of our church, there are two stained-glass windows. Each time I pass, I notice how the sun shines through them, casting radiant, multi-coloured light across the walls and furnishings. From the outside, however, things are different. What looks so bright and vibrant on the inside becomes drab and dreary. The intricate designs and harmonious colours of these windows can only be seen and appreciated when you enter the building. 

It’s a matter of perspective.

Not long ago, I faced a particularly difficult season of ministry when I felt consumed by all that seemed to be going wrong. Unmet expectations, frustrating circumstances, a painful conflict and difficulty embracing some new directives left me feeling burdened. I confess that my perspective on Salvation Army officership, at that time, did not look radiant.

Instead of giving thanks for this life I get to live, the many opportunities I experience and the thousands of people I have had the privilege of working with or serving, I was guilty of focusing solely on my challenges. 

It was during that difficult season that I sat by the hospital bed of a retired Salvation Army officer, an individual whose battle with cancer was nearing the end and a promotion to glory seemed inevitable. 

As I visited with my colleague, we began sharing our experiences as Salvation Army officers. My friend talked about the days when an officer’s paycheque was not guaranteed, when the living quarters were heated only by firewood cut by hand and when teaching school-aged children from Monday to Friday was an additional responsibility to everything else required in corps ministry. I was captivated by each anecdote and amused by how different things once were, especially when I learned about something called a “pound service”—a Sunday meeting when congregation members shared a pound of flour, a pound of sugar or a pound of fish or wild game from their own limited resources so the officer could survive the long winter months. That is quite different from my own experience.

Despite the pain and sickness enveloping my friend’s body, each anecdote about the way things were was shared with a smile and an occasional weak chuckle. In the final moments of our visit, we prayed together. Not knowing if it would be our final encounter on this side of heaven, I asked, “Would you do it all over again?”

The response was simple but came without hesitation. “You bet!”

My view of ministry may have been drab and dreary when I entered the hospital that day, but I left with a completely different perspective. 

In this season of thanksgiving, I have been reminded to focus on what matters most. No doubt each of us will experience challenging or difficult circumstances that can leave us feeling burdened or frustrated. And while we may not be able to fix everything that concerns us, looking at those situations from a different vantage point may be exactly what we need. As the Apostle Paul exhorts us, we are to “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). This is a necessary reminder to all of us that it is a privilege to be in service for the Lord and that God is always with us, even in the midst of trials, so we can still experience joy.

As I was walking up the front ramp of our church building recently, I noticed the drab and dreary rectangles near our front entrance. I thought of my colleague, who I now miss terribly, but I was able to give God thanks for my new perspective, and eagerly anticipate the beauty of the intricate design and harmonious colours of the windows on the other side. 

And for that I am most thankful.

Major Sheldon Bungay is the corps officer at St. John’s Temple, N.L.