Saturday November 28, 2020
Today is the first weekend day after after Thanksgiving. The malls should be a bit quieter than yesterday. It is a day designated by neighborhood stores as Shop Small Saturday. The idea was originated by American Express back in 2010 to help the small businesses not in the giant malls of America. Fortunately in this pandemic age most small local shops have websites so instead of going out we can order gifts from them.
Christmas giving as it’s called certainly is big business, even for the small shops. For many families the holiday will certainly be scaled down this year due to the massive unemployment faced by millions of people. The human cost has been enormous, and as the number of infections and deaths keep rising, continues to be that: enormous.
Tomorrow is the first Sunday in Advent. The theme is hope. We certainly hope that the vaccines developed will ease, if not reduce sharply, infections and deaths. But hope is more than simply getting a vaccine sometime next year. Hope is expressed through action, and our action must be to care for others as well as ourselves by the routines of wearing face coverings, using sanitizer, washing hands and avoiding crowds.
Prayer for the Day
Caught between hope and fear, we often do not know what to do, o Lord,
For we want to live in hope but we confess we are afraid;
Torn between needs and desire, we struggle to find a path, O God,
For we desire that which is unattainable rather than what we need.
Help us to live in hopeful expectation, not only of quick solutions,
But of reconstructing our society so the needs of all are met.
In the name of him who opens the way for us,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Empathy is not simply a matter of trying to imagine what others are going through, but having the will to muster enough courage to do something about it. In a way, empathy is predicated upon hope.
- Cornel West, American theologian
We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.
- Anaïs Nin (1903-1977)
For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
Upon you I have leaned from my birth; you who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of you.
- Psalm 71: 5-6