The Joy of Thanksgiving

Hello Friends,
This is Thanksgiving month. As the month opens I am aware that there is so much for me to be thankful for, as an individual and as a member of our beloved spiritual community, the First Congregational United Church of Christ. So, a list is coming. But, before that just a bit about gratefulness.

Brother David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk who lives nearby in Sonoma, speaks almost exclusively of gratefulness. He looks at gratefulness as the center of our spiritual lives. In his article, A Deep Bow, he suggests what happens as we receive something from someone else is that we feel joy. So, beyond the gift received we come to appreciate a far deeper gift, joy itself. As we experience this joy, gratefulness extends beyond the usual social obligation to say thank you, into the mystery of life itself. Soon, with Joy we begin to realize that we are connected (put your whole self in: connection) to someone else and through that someone to life itself. The blessings of this universe, the blessings of God are coming to us through to the other. As we receive these gifts we come to know the great love that holds us and we are moved to expressions of gratefulness, thanks-giving. The beauty of thanks-giving, the giving of thanks to another, is that the gift keeps on giving, endlessly -- our expressions of thanks works like this: the joy that we experience in being gifted by another is passed back to the other, who experiences joy at our giving of thanks. We are united in joy. Brother David puts the joyful encounter of giving and thanksgiving at the center of our faith. We are united in joy with others. Indeed, we are united with the Giver of Life as we come to appreciate deeply the great gift of our lives. As our joy is in Christ and Christ's joy is in us, joy is made complete. For that there is nothing left to do but to give thanks. Now my list:

1. I am thankful that our Samoan brothers and sisters have broken ground for their new building and that Pastor Eddie Sunia is now licensed by the Conference to fully serve the First Samoan Congregational Christian UCC in Santa Rosa.
2. I am thankful for our Music Department, for Ron Hawks, musician extraordinaire, our choir, and unbelievable depth and variety available to us.
3. I am thankful for Jess Bradley, our Director of Children and Youth Ministries. She brings a dedication and purposefulness to her work.
   
4. I am thankful for the endless support and help that I receive from Carmen Rapp, our Church Administrator.
   
5. I am thankful to our denomination for once again recognizing the vitality of our ministry and granting us a "renewing and revitalization grant" for two more years.
6. I am grateful for our Stewardship Campaign and the way it asks us to focus on 'our whole selves' as a way of giving to God. I am hopeful that the Stewardship Campaign will help us to become a more fully involved congregation, on all levels.
7. I am grateful for those pioneers in our church who have undertaken a study of Unbinding the Gospel as we begin to look at a new way of promoting faith through small group communities in our church (more on this is coming up in December and January -- if you have questions, please ask me.).
8. I am grateful for the developing relationships among the young children in our Sunday School. Real connections are being made in the 5 year old age group. What a joy!
9. I am thankful for the way our church has taken a stand on "No on 8," promoting the Civil Rights of all the people.
10. I am thankful that we will be able to run some newspaper ads moving into Christmas, in part thanks to a Media With a Mission Grant from the United Church of Christ.
11. I am thankful that Adwoa Kudoto, a master drummer from Ghana, and her daughter, Sena Kugbega have joined our church and brought their drums and culture for our enrichment.
    

Gosh, the list goes on and on: Debbie Studebaker, moderator; Board Chairs, the energy of our congregation....etc.... Well, call that my partial church list. All these things bring me joy, a joy I would like to share with you and with our Creator -- that our Joy might be complete. I have a personal list as well -- why don't you ask me?

Blessings and Peace,
David