Joke: A Rabbi confesses to his friend, who is an Episcopal Priest, that he sometimes can't resist the aroma of frying bacon wafting from the Italian deli across the road from his office, inevitably leading him to, on occasion break a dietary law. The priest, blushing deeply replies: oh my dear friend, if only I had something so inconsequential to confess, for only last week I found myself eating my main course still using my salad fork.

On Tuesday evening I used this joke to introduce my address to the Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, an annual event for faith communities on the East Side, alternatively hosted by Temple Beth-El and St. Martins. You might be thinking what has this joke to do with Thanksgiving. Well, it's about the friendship between neighbors. The kind of friendship capable of celebrating our rich diversities as a nation and yet, allow for openness and vulnerability.

Thanksgiving Day as a national holiday is a unique American experience. It has multiple historical roots. The story of the first Thanksgiving among the Plymouth Colony Pilgrims has captured popular imagination. But it was George Washington, following the Revolution who inaugurated an annual November 26th Thanksgiving commemoration. It was Abraham Lincoln who instituted Thanksgiving as a public holiday for the last Thursday of November. The function of Thanksgiving Day in the civic religious life of the American Nation is to invite communities of difference to join together in a profound recognition of their gratitude to God. When we, as individuals, or as communities engage with the sources of our gratitude to God for the good things we enjoy in life, our hearts, otherwise constricted by fear, open to the possibility of living with greater generosity towards others.

At a time in our national life when we experience a deepening of tensions between communities of difference, focused currently by the eruption of violence in Ferguson, but widely experienced in communities throughout the country, this Thanksgiving Day I invite us all to reflect not only on the blessing we have in our own lives but the blessing we enjoy through our membership in faith communities that contribute towards our desire for more generous living. God is calling us:

• to be dissatisfied with easy answers and superficial relationships, so that we might live more fully within our hearts
• to be angered by the way injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people supports discrimination, so that we may work more passionately for justice and equity across our society
• to reach out in support to those in pain
• to have enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that together we can do what others claim cannot be done.

 Happy Thanksgiving Day to everyone and see you in Church this Sunday!

Mark+

Linda Griggs

Director of Christian Formation

Don't forget to sign up for Generations Prayer Partnerships!
See last week's E-News for details, and contact Linda Griggs for more information.
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Formation opportunities coming up: 

While at the Advent Festival plan to sign up to participate in our Christmas Pageant on Christmas Eve at 4:00 p.m.

Finally, this month's Youth and Family Dinner Church is going on the road! Join us on 21 December at 5:00 at ECC for their annual Advent Service in the Barn followed by a simple supper. Follow this link for details.

Peace and Cheers,

Linda