Thanksgiving 2020

“I will praise God’s name in song and glorify God with thanksgiving.” ~~~Psalm 69:30

I give thanks in this 2020 pandemic season of life. I remain prayerful for those who are suffering loss and grieving, as we find this year to be hugely stressful in so many ways. Still, I am grateful for my health, for the congregation with whom I serve, for the ability to continue to work and serve, for savory and soothing homecooked meals, and for the safety of living in a comfortable parsonage with my family.

With everything that has made this such a chaotic year, I am thankful that we can begin to address the larger issues in our world that cause racial strife, inequality, poverty and homelessness, and other injustices that keep us from living in peace. As I find places of gratitude in this year, I am reminded to thank God who offers us everything that is needed.

I am fortunate to have a place I can call home, and a simple family lifestyle that provides a loving and calm spirit of generosity. We have been blessed in the last week to expand our welcoming home to Lily, a 7-year-old Rat Terrier whom we adopted from the SPCA of Santa Cruz. Lily has some hearing loss and barks at inanimate objects, but she has been embraced into our household by another adoptee, 10½-year-old Benji, a loving Bichon Frise-Poodle. We are blessed indeed, even in times such as these! We are a family, privileged to live in a neighborhood with a park where walking (even with busy traffic patterns!) gives us a greenbelt for outings as we shelter-in-place (see the accompanying picture).

This year, even with all that pains in our community, state, nation, and world, I can join the Psalmist to sing and glorify God with thanksgiving…even as I continue the strenuous work of helping to create an environment where justice, peace, and kindness thrive! How might you be able to share glory to God, even in a time such as this?!

~~~pastor jay