A Pastoral Letter of Thanksgiving

Poet John Greenleaf Whittier once asked Ralph Waldo Emerson what he prayed for. “When I first open my eyes upon the morning meadows and look out upon the beautiful world,” replied Emerson, “I thank God I am alive–and that I live so near Boston.”

Likewise this Thanksgiving season, I give thanks for being alive and having a loving family and living near all of you and being a part of your lives.

Like many of you, I grow weary these days of the ongoing strife and violence in our world. What is there to be thankful for? Well, as it turns out, a great deal, of course, if we will but take the time to remember and be grateful for those things that really do matter. Along with love and forgiveness, I consider gratitude to be essential for emotional and spiritual well-being.

Thanksgiving is an American holiday. Some may presently consider this ironic in light of ongoing political contentiousness in our nation. At another solemn time in our nation’s history, it was President Abraham Lincoln who set apart the last Thursday of November for the celebration of Thanksgiving at which time he urged prayer in the churches and in the homes to “implore the interposition of the almighty to heal the wounds of the nations.” And so, may the healing of the wounds of the nations remain our prayer and abiding hope in 2005 as we gather on Thanksgiving Day with friends and family around our bountiful tables.

But I will also give thanks to Life for you–the beloved people of our Fellowship:

for each and every one of you,
for your strengths and weaknesses, generosity and pettiness,
your visions and your doubts, your excitement and your crankiness,
your intellect and your laughter,
for exposing my narrow-mindedness,
for your courage in bearing pain,
for your compliments and criticism, just and unjust,
for your self-forgetting love,
for your healing and hurting ways, for all you do and fail to do,
for the time and energy and devotion and loyalty and spirit and
commitment and dedication to making this become the
spiritual/comforting/celebratory/serving community it has become.
I give thanks to Life for you.
May you all have a gracious and meaningful Thanksgiving!

Jim Covington