Thursday, November 25, 2021

Thanksgiving Gratitudes

This morning, I did morning watch on my church's Facebook page from an unused bedroom in the ramshackle house at Lutheridge where my family gathers most years for Thanksgiving.  I am grateful for a church that embraces this ministry of mine, where I show up each morning to broadcast live as I read the passages from Phyllis Tickle's The Divine Hours and do some sketching, final prayer(s), and some final thoughts/benedictions.

Today I said that God is grateful for us, just as we are grateful for our blessings.  We are a blessing for God.  I am grateful to be part of a church (Lutheran, the ELCA variety) that supports these ideas that might be seen as heresy by more restrictive denominations.

I am grateful that the people who gave me my earliest training (religious and otherwise) are here with me.  I feel fortunate that I'm still on good terms with my family, even though we haven't always agreed on politics or other issues.

I am grateful for all those things we'll probably be listing today, if we're lucky:  food, a roof over my head, a job that doesn't mistreat me, relationships that nourish me.

I am grateful for so much in my life, but this year, I am most grateful for my seminary journey.  Those of you who have read this blog have followed that process.  I have wanted to do this for a long time, decades.  This year, I'm grateful to have found a way to make this way.

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