FROM THE VICAR
Grace and peace to you in this month of Thanksgiving. Long ago, St. Teresa of Avila wrote a very famous
prayer of encouragement:
Christ has no body now but yours
No hands, no feet on earth but yours
Yours are the eyes through which He looks
with compassion on this world
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
Encouragement was important to her. St. Teresa lived at a time in history that was torn by war and Inquisition, but
she lived only for hope. In a like spirit is that quintessentially American celebration of Thanksgiving which we
celebrate each November, a holiday that came into being, not at a time when all was going well, but during one of
the darkest and most divided moments in our history. The year was 1863 and we were in the middle of Civil War
when President Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanks. Thanksgiving suggests that if we hold on too tightly we
will find conflict, but if we can let go, we will find peace. Contained within the single word “thanksgiving” is both
gratitude and generosity. It is not what we have that saves us, but what we share.
Jesus was a great thanks-giver. By giving thanks, he was able to turn seven loaves and two fish into a meal
for a multitude. The Eucharist which we celebrate each Sunday is a prayer of thanksgiving, when the Church gives
thanks to God by sharing the story of how one man defeated fear and death by means of a miraculous meal.
As the Church, we are all about feeding one another. Our riches are love, community and care, family,
friendship, meals, laughter, people to walk life’s road with you and a story of hope that will knock your socks off.
The Church freely offers you these gifts. As St. Teresa said, we are the Body of God. We seek to be the kindly
village that raises our children and youth with joy and truth. We seek to be the ears that hear the wisdom of our
elders. We work at being the hands that care for one another through thick and thin. President Lincoln knew this
when he signed the first Thanksgiving proclamation, that at times of uncertainty, human beings stay alive by
sharing, or as Bishop Mark MacDonald of Alaska put it, “There are no enemies at forty below.” Gifts for a journey,
gifts for births, for marriages, for anniversaries, for deaths, for growing up and going away to college, for the
first home, these threshold times are when we lay our offerings and offer our support.
Each year the Church crosses its own threshold time. We exist only because you pledge to keep us. Your
annual pledge to Redeemer ensures that Redeemer will thrive for another year. In the next newsletter I will talk
with you about the economy of God, but first I will simply give thanks.
May your Thanksgiving table be rich in the abundance of God’s love.
Blessings,
Rev. Carol Luther
Don’t forget to vote – NOVEMBER 2nd!
WANTED: A COUPLE OF NEW BISHOP’S COMMITTEE MEMBERS!
Explore your interest with Cathy Kirk, Kelly Mason or Rev. Carol
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