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October 28, 2007

A Season of Thanksgiving - Beth Foote

This fall Kris Goodrich and I have been getting together for lunch on a regular basis and spending some time getting to know each other. Kris is the co-founder of the Child and Family Institute which shares our campus, and she has much wisdom to share about the spirituality of families, and how “to be” with our children in a way that builds faith and healthy family relationships. She has mentioned how helpful it is to merge the “Hallmark calendar” with the Liturgical Calendar.

As you may know, they don’t always match up. For example, we do not sing Christmas Carols in Advent, which begins at the beginning of December. But November does match up pretty well. We are at the very end of our “Ordinary Time” or Pentecost season. And it’s much like fall in that we’re at the end of a growing season and harvesting as well.

What I find meaningful about November is the emphasis on Thanksgiving and being thankful. Being thankful is a way of “harvesting” along our faith journey, taking stock of our blessings, and in return, placing them out in our outstretched hands for God’s blessing.

Did you know that the word “Eucharist” means “Thanksgiving” in Greek? In bringing up the offering of money, and the elements of the bread and the wine in the Eucharist, we offer symbols of our time and talent, and of food and drink that nourishes us. When we come forward to receive communion, we put out our hands and receive the bread and the wine that has been blessed, consecrated and transformed, just as we ourselves our transformed by God’s love and presence in our lives.

And when I look at what I’m grateful for, much of it is around people, and the relationships I have with them, which are so important to my life. I’m grateful in particular for serving at Trinity, and being with you this last year. I’m also grateful for my developing sense of what it means to be ordained. Last week I had the pleasure of being the Deacon at the Alumni/ae Convocation service at CDSP, the Episcopal Seminary in Berkeley where I studied, and it was a beautiful experience to distribute communion, and say “The Body of Christ, the Bread of Heaven,” over and over, and participate in that act of individual, yet corporate thanksgiving. There is unexpected joy in discovering my identity as an ordained person, and I’m thankful for Trinity’s role in that sense of growth and discovery.
November starts with the Sunday of All Saints, and concludes with our All Parish Brunch on November 25.

Sunday School Update:
What’s happening in Sunday School? We’ve had very good attendance at Sunday School this fall, and that is definitely on my list of things to be very thankful for! Our Sunday School teachers prepare lessons every Sunday, and offer their presence and guidance week by week. I am so proud of our teachers! Bishop Marc talks a lot about “the Beloved Community,” and my hope is that in the coming year we can bring more children into our Beloved Sunday School community.

Good things will happen out of that; the Holy Spirit is already at work through our programs, and our friendships and our time together during the All Parish events. Come join us on a regular basis!

In the month of November the Godly Play classes for children age 4-2nd grade will continue learning stories from the Hebrew Scriptures about the Exodus and the “10 Best Ways” i.e., the Ten Commandments. Students in the 3/4th and 5th grade classes will also learn stories from the Hebrew Bible about Moses leading the Exodus, and the Big Ten, yet another way to describe the Ten Commandments.

Our acolyte training continues through the fall, and we’re working on building a corps of acolytes so that kids will serve about once a month. Please contact me or Janice Schaaf if you are interested in being trained, and we can set up another training, and we can also meet after church and run through it with you. We have a document to refer to called “Acolyting for Dummies”. Just ask for one and I’ll send it to you via e-mail.

Take a moment around the family dinner table to talk about all we have to be thankful for. And remember that the Eucharist is a meal of thanksgiving that we celebrate every week that nourishes our souls.
Beth+