Thanks & Giving

Before I headed off the the church this morning I listened to the C.B.C and an interview with someone who is promoting an initiative called Thanks & Giving under the auspices of the larger Imagine program. http://www.thanksandgiving.ca/ This weekend they are encouraging people to discuss giving around family tables. They are also asking parents to teach their children the importance of giving and perhaps to match the monetary gifts of kids as an incentive to give.

Traditionally religious organizations such as churches (and synagogues and mosques and temples) were the places where folk learned these important lessons about generosity. I am biased, but I still think they are the best places.

It is wonderful to hear people sing their gratitude as they did at St. Paul's this morning. During worship individuals of all ages wrote prayers of thanks on slips of paper and then they were incorporated into the Prayers of the People later in the service. We listened to our ancestral stories about giving thanks in scripture.

I knew that a number of people are living through tough times in our congregation. Still, there is something about God-directed communal thanks that is irreplacable and I hope these folk felt enveloped in the love of others.

I felt the spirit of thanks and was thankful for God's great gift of love in Christ.