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For Advent: Call us blessed!

Writer's picture: Pastor Janet BlairPastor Janet Blair
Advent

Our theme for Advent and Christmas this year is “Call me blessed,” taken from Mary’s song in Luke: “My soul magnifies the Lord!” God has looked upon her with favor; and, she sings, “Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is God’s name.”


And we may observe alignment with the gratitude reflected in the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address of Greetings to the Natural World, which we heard in worship on the First Sunday in Advent, which followed Thanksgiving. The Haudenosaunee, meaning “people of the longhouse,” referring to their domicile structures, were also known as the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy.


Our American Thanksgiving holiday is experienced as a Day or Mourning for Indigenous people in this land. And when we reflect on the stories we were told as children about the meaning of Thanksgiving, we may be able to grasp how really white- and Euro-centric it was. I think it’s our responsibility to recognize and affirm that reality, to the degree we can – not to diminish our own sense of gratitude on Thanksgiving. But perhaps, even as we are thankful, we can witness and respect the experience of others, and grow from what we hear and learn.


In the first petition of the English translation of Thanksgiving Address, “The People” are greeted and thanked:


Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give greetings and thanks to each other as people. Now our minds are one.


Also greeted and thanked are the Earth Mother, the waters, the fish, the plants, the herbs, the animals, the trees, the birds, the four winds, the sun, Grandmother Moon, the stars, the enlightened teachers – and the prayer ends with thanks to the Creator.


To me this is so inspiring, an example to us as we aspire to gratitude and thankfulness. May we also seek “to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things.” May our goal be to come together with all people in gratitude for what God has given us – knowing that we have more in common than what separates us.


And what can we be thankful for? Even when circumstances are difficult, and God knows these are difficult times for so many of us in so many ways – yet we still can be thankful. If we can only sit for a moment with our blessings, rather than focusing on the difficulties, we might be calmer, more at peace, happier.


The Mennonites hold up the concept of having “enough.” Enough. We don’t need more than – well, more than we need. We can be thankful for what we are given by God’s gracious hand, appreciating “enough” as a kind of abundance.


We pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” and our prayers are answered. “Daily bread” means more than just our food. It means a place to live, money to pay our bills, clothes to wear, friends and family. It means loving and being loved. God provides us with this daily bread.


And so – call us blessed! Amen.


Pastor Janet

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Knox Presbyterian &
Thanksgiving Lutheran Churches

1650 W. Third St.

Santa Rosa, CA 95401
 

Phone: (707) 544-5468

knoxtlc1650@gmail.com

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