Thanksgiving Week 2022
Dear Friends,
The news this week is dire -- from Colorado to Virginia -- and my heart breaks for so much violence among us. So much despair, and distrust between peoples. I share this heartbreak with so many of you, and I can't imagine facing such a world without the steadfast friendship of a brave and tenderhearted church.
It seems to me that the central moment of Jesus' own life -- of his ministry on earth -- may have been the moment he gave thanks for his friends. In one account, he does that as he's breaking bread, recommitting his life to God and freedom. In another, he's kneeling to wash their feet. But there, with so much danger swirling round, Jesus looks around at them, takes it all in, appreciates the perfectly imperfect community they've created, and gives thanks.
Perhaps this, too, is where we begin to repair the torn fabric. Perhaps this, too, is where we begin to turn toward nonviolence, repentance and grace. In gratitude. In thanks. For one another.
So this Thanksgiving...I give thanks...
For a church of the tenderhearted.
For a community of children whose eyes shine with delight.
For the love you show one another--in seasons of delight and despair.
For your open arms, open minds and open doors.
For your courage in grieving injustice.
For your steadfast hope in facing the future together.
For your generosity with spirit, time and resources.
And for the God who persists in gathering us, and loving us, and moving us to service.
May you rejoice in the love that awakens thanksgiving in our hearts. And may you receive, in your many spirits, the ever new and ever renewing gifts of God's grace. By such grace, we move forward, a united church, to sing songs of joy and peace, to lay down every weapon and grievance, to build the kin-dom of heaven. On earth. On the Seacost. Among us.
Happy Thanksgiving to you, my friends. Rejoice!
Dave Grishaw-Jones, Pastor
