We are now well into the fall and are beginning to think about the holiday season ahead of us. There’s Thanksgiving and Christmas and we haven’t even gotten to November yet. Plastic Christmas trees abound in stores, some with flashing lights. Thanksgiving decorations tell us to be grateful, to care for each other. One might call this the season of mush and maudlin quotes.
But at the same time, we are still encountering anger, a good deal of it unfocused. The internet is still full of messages of fear and hate, and it’s not just because of the looming elections. Often we’re not sure where to direct our anger, our sense of frustration with the world around us.
We complain about inflation, gas prices that are rising again, and look for someone to blame, upon whom we can place responsibility. We in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast have been relatively fortunate, especially compared to the survivors of stores in the Southeast and Puerto Rico. There’s a road near where I live with banner signs saying “Be Kind.” Perhaps we should add “Be grateful.”
Prayer for the Day
O God, who calls us to be instruments of your peace,
We acknowledge that we look to rules instead of love;
Open us to your spirit of reconciling love,
And wash away from us anger, envy, and jealousy.
So we are healed by your grace in our lives
And knit together in community.
We ask this in the name of the One who teaches us to live with grace,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thoughts for the Day
If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.
- James Herriot, British writer, All Creatures Great and Small (1916-1995)
It's a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.”
- Germany Kent, writer
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24