Happy Thanksgiving! This holiday is a great reminder of how much we have to be grateful for, day by day and year by year. Having a day set aside to contemplate this and enjoy time with family and friends is lovely. I hope our recognition of our many blessings continues throughout the year.

Over the years I have tried various practices, each good for a time. On the formal side, we can write down five things we are grateful for each day. This may be hard to maintain as a practice, but it really does help one think about it more thoroughly. Less formally, we may quietly name our blessings in a prayer to God at the end of the day. On Sundays, we are prompted to give thanks for the blessings in our lives - this too can be your regular practice.

Today, I give thanks for the Good Sam community, for the trust and honor you have placed in me to serve as your Rector. May we continue to gather to give thanks and serve God together. While we won’t gather on Thanksgiving, we can still pray as one. I’m including the collect for Thanksgiving in the hope that we might each pray it, united by God’s spirit.

Blessings,
Paul

Thanksgiving Day
Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.