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November 21, 2007

Thanksgiving Message- November 21, 2007

Dear Friends and Family,

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, a special holiday for us Americans. We certainly do live in the land described by the Hebrew writers—a land flowing with milk and honey, a land of great abundance and opportunity.

While serving as a pastor in Oak Park, I belonged to a service-oriented Interfaith organization, the Community of Congregations. For over 25 years, the organization has gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving with an Interfaith worship service. Select representatives from the diverse faith communities that reside in the Oak Park area each share a blessing or reading from their religious tradition. I received a phone call from a friend on the board reminding me of the upcoming service and so I attended last Sunday evening, November 18th. Some of those represented at this year’s celebration included Baha’i, Jewish, Unitarian, Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian. It was a joyous celebration.

Similarly, in the Old Irving Park neighborhood, we had our community Thanksgiving worship service at Irving Park Lutheran Church on Belle Plain Avenue last evening. As the new pastor in town, I was blessed to give the message. I believe the worship service is a recent event and it has been up to this point a Christian service of Thanksgiving. This service was put together by our Irving Park Ministerial Alliance that is composed primarily of Christian faiths. We are trying to reach out and include other religious communities in our various events and hope to do so at our upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. event on Sunday, January 20.

I personally would like to see us expand our Thanksgiving service beyond our Christian communities and include other local religious organizations. Thanksgiving is the one holiday where we, as people of faith in this great nation of ours, could come together to give thanks to our sovereign God in a collective, united way. As people of faith, we must be the ones reaching across religious boundaries and getting to know each other. While much good work is done in the name of God, too much killing and hate is cultivated in God’s name as well. Think about this, and if you are interested in helping with next year’s service, please contact me.

As you gather with your family tomorrow, please remember to give thanks to God for his precious love as witnessed in Jesus Christ. He came in peace. He came to share the love of God with the world, one person at a time. No matter your circumstance this holiday—whether it be heartache or heart warming—know that God loves you more than you can imagine. Each of us, whether we accept it or not, is a precious child of God. Accept the gift and give thanks!

With a grateful heart,

Pastor Vickie

Posted by vickie at 01:54 PM