From the Pastor

October 2007

This is not a Thanksgiving article.

You would probably expect a Thanksgiving article from the pastor in the October edition of the newsletter.  This is not one of those.  Over the years, I’ve written many of those – ten, in fact.  If I were writing a Thanksgiving article, this would be the eleventh Thanksgiving newsletter article of my career.  But this is not a Thanksgiving article.

Most Thanksgiving newsletter articles from the pastor strive to remind us to be thankful for the small, ordinary blessings in our lives.  Blessings like family, a good job, our health, our faith, our children, our church, our freedoms and the sunshine in the morning.  But, who doesn’t know that?  Who isn’t reminded daily just by reading the headlines or catching the evening news or just by looking out the front window that these things are not givens for everyone in the world and that we who receive these blessings ought to be thankful for them?

So, this isn’t a Thanksgiving article.

No, this isn’t a pastor’s Thanksgiving article that talks about how, when gratitude lies at the centre of our being, grace and joy, which are so often clouded by the responsibilities and busyness of our lives, come into clear focus.  Nor, how gratitude has the ability to re-prioritize the fragmented pieces our lives.  Nor, how thanksgiving is the very heart of the Eucharistic tradition inaugurated by Jesus himself on the night before he was handed over to be crucified.

Thank goodness, this isn’t one of those articles!

No, this is not a Thanksgiving article.

Rather, this is a reminder that October 10 is Election Day in Ontario and, as a recent Sunday morning epistle reading reminded us so starkly (and, as the children highlighted so well during the Children’s Time that Sunday), we need to pray for our leaders “with supplications, intercessions, and thanksgivings...”  Take your prayers with into the ballot box and vote.

And, by the way, Happy Thanksgiving!!

Peace,
Pastor Brian