|
Dear Covenant Family,
As I write, winter is in the air. Our cat Jacques is sleeping near a radiator when he is not in front of the warm fireplace. The leaves continue to fall, and the wind seems to blow them away as soon as we rake them onto the tree lawn. A buck has been spotted in the neighborhood looking for a mate, and the squirrels are busy burying their treasures.
This year our long dining room table will not be laden with the feast because we will be out of town visiting a son who lives overseas. I can still vividly picture the four boys when they were little and fighting over the turkey leg. Like many families, we went around the table answering the question- What are you grateful for?
Now I realize we could have picked better questions. In an article called The Turkey Hostage Ritual, The Rev. Diana Butler Bass notes how often “we express gratitude about material things, success, and whatever we consider to be blessings. In effect, when we use the word for we turn thankfulness into a commodity- we are grateful for the stuff of our lives.” So maybe it’s time to change our prepositions. Try these questions at your table this year:
To whom or what are you grateful?
What challenges have you been grateful through?
Have you been grateful with others?
Where have you discovered gratitude within?
Has something in your life been changed by being grateful?
In what circumstances have you experienced thankfulness?
I can’t count all the ways I am grateful to you, including the challenges we have been through, the prayers and praises we lift together, the way we discover the deep well of grace within ourselves and one another, all the things that change and challenge us to watch for God in new ways.
With warm gratitude,
Pastor Jessie
Pastor@covenantweb.org
| 
