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Pastoral Pondering:
It's good to give thanks
for all our many blessings |
A few years ago my sister-in-law, Gloria, hosted Thanksgiving dinner for
the entire Shaffer family at her home. It was a marvelous celebration with John’s
parents and all five of their sons and their spouses and children.
Twenty-four of us gathered at the long table. We had each contributed a part
of the feast — Grandma’s cherry Jell-O salad, corn, potatoes and gravy, bean
casserole, pumpkin and apple pies, and more.
Gloria provided the turkey. She had never cooked a turkey before and as the
Shaffer daughters-in-law bustled around in the kitchen she regaled us with her adventures
in turkey roasting research.
She had read the label on the turkey, looked at several cookbooks and had
gone on-line to turkey.com to make sure she was doing everything right. It was, after all,
an enormous bird and she wanted to make sure that it was thoroughly done. It was. So was
the plastic-wrapped package of giblets inside the bird.
Well, we ate the turkey anyway, and it was delicious and our time spent
together was truly a time of thanksgiving.
As this Thanksgiving season approaches, I am poignantly aware of the losses that have
occurred in our family over this past year. However, I am now even more grateful for the
gift of family and for the ways in which we are tied together, through shared experiences,
a common story and fond memories.
I also rejoice in the amazing gift of church family, this blessed community of
believers called First United Methodist Church. We too are tied together, through our
fellowship, our call to discipleship and our common mission. It takes each of us sharing
our resources and gifts to make our ministry happen.
Our life together, our worship, our learning, our fellowship, our giving
— all sustain us here so we can be the people of God, doing the work of God out
there. We receive spiritual support from our faith community so that we can be God’s
presence in the world.
So during this season when we celebrate Thanksgiving and make a pledge of
commitment to the life and work of our church, let us be gracious recipients and generous
givers.
Let us be good stewards of God’s gifts so that others may experience the
life, love and hope that come from God. In our generosity, we will receive more than we
knew we had and do more than we could ever dream. Thanks be to God.
Jane Shaffer is the pastor at First United Methodist Church. |
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From Nov. 29,
2003, Newberg Graphic
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