Thanksgiving...
We will have our Little Falls Community Thanksgiving service on
Tuesday night at 7:00 PM, with both Reformed Churches, the United Methodist Church, St. Agnes', and the Committed to the Word Christian Fellowship all worshipping together at St. Agnes'
In the midst of times which tempt us to fear and despair, we have
so much for which to be thankful -- think for a moment, of all those who have cared for you, mentored you, loved you, encouraged you, helped you to be a better person; think, for a moment, of all the resources that have been yours: of health, strength, skill, education, gifts and talents, the opportunity to work; think of the other people and things for which you are grateful.
It's in our heritage to
remember, to recite and remember the goodness of God in our lives, and Thanksgiving Day is a dandy opportunity (between the parade, the turkey, and the football game) to do this.
... and, on Sunday, the beginning of Advent, the season when we think of the coming(s) of God in our lives. Really, really truly, December isn't about the biggest inflatable Santa and the biggest credit card debt we can run up. The shopping binge doesn't
have to start at the midnight after Thanksgiving Day. (And it doesn't have to be a binge, ever.)
For us as people of God, it's a time to prepare for Christmas in a different way -- by remembering the comings of God in our lives, remembering the coming of Jesus, in whose face we see the love of God, and yearning for the next comings of God.
Dame Maria Boulding, OSB, of Stanbrook Abbey wrote this stunning opening to her book about Advent,
The Coming of God:
" Longing for God"
My soul longs for you in the night,
my spirit within me keeps vigil for you.
Isaiah 26.9
"If you want God, and long for union with him, yet sometimes wonder what that means or whether it can mean anything at all, you are already walking with the God who comes. If you are at times so weary and involved with the struggle of living that you have no strength even to want him, yet are still dissatisfied that you don't, you are already keeping Advent in your life. If you have ever had an obscure intuition that the truth of things is somehow better, greater, more wonderful than you deserve or desire, that the touch of God in your life stills you by its gentleness, that there is a mercy beyond anything you could ever suspect,
you are already drawn into the mystery of salvation. [italics mine]
A little farther along there's another magnificent zinger:
"Creation is shot through with the self-gift of God. The divine life, the divine self-giving called grace, is the secret dynamism at the heart of creation, penetrating, lifting and inspiring it from the innermost personal core of every human being, drawing it onwards to it destiny... [grace] is sheer gift..."
May you Thanksgiving Day be one of great joy, and your Advent one of deep joy.
Fairbairn+
The picture is from Will and Baumer's web page, and is their Chace Advent Candle set.
