Purpose

Dear Trinity friends, 

As we approach Thanksgiving and then Advent, which is the beginning of the new church year, I am reminded that much of my time is spent “in the future.”  Planning our worship and programming in the church requires a lot of time spent in the next season.  Fr. CJ, Rev. Julia, Robert Barney, and I spent much of the fall getting ready for Advent and Christmas, and it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet!  Because of this work, we have a robust Advent season filled with Adult Formation opportunities, three outreach ministry invitations for you and your family to help our neighbors, and wonderful Sunday services filled with the provocative themes of Advent and the music you love.  All good.  Perhaps you do the same thing in order to have your travel plans and hospitality plans all lined up for the coming holiday season.  

What I realized this morning, however, is that this time spent “in the future” also means we risk missing the present day, the present moment.  One of my spiritual disciplines is to read the daily offering from the monks at SSJE.  This morning’s reflection from Br. Curtis really hit home and brought me back to today.  It is so meaningful to me, that I want to share it with you.  May you know, as Br. Curtis writes, your purpose today; to love God, love one another, serve generously with the gifts you have been uniquely given!  

Purpose: When we wake up each morning, we can presume God’s presence, and power, and provision. We have been kept alive for as much as one more day to know God, and to love God, and to serve God as only we, uniquely, can do. It’s why we are still alive. Which turns life into such an amazing adventure.     Br. Curtis Almquist, SSJERead More  click here to read all of Br. Curtis’ reflection on Purpose. 

Finally,  I want to wish each and everyone a blessed Thanksgiving.  I hope you will watch our pre-recorded Thanksgiving Day service at 10 a.m. on Nov. 28 as you prepare for your feast and gather with family and friends.  This little bit of pre-planning on our part will allow everyone to be in the moment on Thanksgiving Day as we pray and sing together virtually.  

Perhaps you will use this prayer of Thanksgiving around your table this year: 

A General Thanksgiving (BCP p. 836)

Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us.  We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love. 

We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for the loving care which surrounds us on every side.

We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy and delight us. 

We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.  

Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying, through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.

Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know him and make him known; and through him, at all times and in all places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen. 

Thankful to be in community with each of you, 

Blessings, 

Nancy+