This Sunday we will celebrate "Thanksgiving Sunday" which - if we are being liturgical purists - is not a thing. There are scripture readings set for Thanksgiving Day, which we will use this Sunday. But "Thanksgiving" is not a day on our church calendar.
Those of you who know how I can be loathe to bring secular and national holidays into worship might be surprised at my quick embrace of a "Thanksgiving Sunday." But Thanksgiving has religious roots! Since the early 1600's in New England a "Day of Thanksgiving" was a time to offer prayers of thanks to God for the harvest, for blessings, and for surviving tough winters. Thanksgiving was about giving thanks to God. It has become a cultural celebration of gratitude, family and food -- but its roots are decidedly religious.
So this Sunday we will offer God our prayers of thanksgiving for community, for family, for creation, and for all the blessings of life. We will also take a moment to give thanks for Frank Hopkins, and light a candle in his memory. Belva will join us, as will some of their children and grandchildren, so we hope you will stay afterwards to greet them during a special coffee hour.
Our gratitude may be tinged by grief this year - or anxiety or confusion or anger - and yet still we give thanks for this glorious life, and for the privilege of being together as God's people. Join us!
