Dear Friends, Thanksgiving can’t come too soon!
We have to limit the number of people with whom we celebrate. The numbers of COVID cases are still up there. This has gone on a lot longer than we wanted it to go on and that can get us all down.
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But did you know that thanksgiving can be an antidote?
Think of the 10 lepers in Luke 17. Jesus made them all clean. But the one who returned to say thank you — Jesus goes on to say that he was made well, he was made whole. John Buchanan, former pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, and editor and publisher of The Christian Century writes:
“It may be that grateful people take better care of themselves, but there is evidence that gratitude alone is a stress reducer, that grateful people are more hopeful, and that there are links between gratitude and the immune system. So your mother was right when she made you call your grandmother and thank her for the birthday card.”
Here is a link to some antidotal Thanksgiving activities (a PDF download) for this weekend.
Happy Thanksgiving!
May God’s grace and peace be with us all.
Revs. Bob and Helen Smith
A version of this message first appeared in the Saturday, October 10, 2020, edition of Tidbits.