November 19, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Meals of Thanksgiving

All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above . . . Hymn 291

Yesterday Marilyn oversaw a group of cooks that included Dollie, Kim, Mildred, and Nikki, as they put together several lasagnas (16 to be exact) for the Surprise You Sale on December 6.  If I remember right, last year was the first year that people could purchase and take a lasagna home.  It was such a success that they’re doing it again this year.

Lasagna, paired with a good salad, is one of my favorite meals.  So it was a joy to hear those women working in the kitchen with conversation and laughter . . . and that’s not to mention the aroma that wafted through the parish hall.

Meals are an important part of almost every culture.  They symbolize welcome (think Sarah preparing the meal for the three strangers that Abraham encountered), inclusion (think Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners), and/or the sharing of cultures (I think about meals I shared with my daughter’s host family in Germany).  Next Thursday is Thanksgiving and most of us will spend time sharing a meal with family and friends. 

And while Thanksgiving is a big event in our culture, let us not forget that we share in a Thanksgiving meal every Sunday.  Every Sunday we participate in Holy Eucharist, a Holy Thanksgiving, where we offer our thanks and praise.  Every Sunday we participate in Holy Communion, which is the sacred meal of the Church and a foretaste of the heavenly banquet.

We are surrounded by meals.  And while Thanksgiving meals are special, fun, and important, let’s not diminish the importance and meaning of that sacred meal we share every Sunday.

Blessings,

November 12, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Remembrances

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down . . .

This past Monday was the 50^th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior.  Yesterday was Veteran’s Day, originally designated as Armistice Day to remember the end of WWI and those who served in that war and was then changed to Remembrance Day in other countries to remember all men and women who served in the military.  And, of course, November 2 was All Saints’ Sunday when we remembered all the saints of God.

As I said last week, death is an inevitable part of life.  But just because it is inevitable does not make it easy.  The burial service is rightfully an Easter liturgy because it finds its meaning in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  But even in that joy of resurrection we are faced with deep sorrow at the loss of a loved one; that is normal and good.  Besides mourning a death, we may also be faced with taking on additional tasks and/or responsibilities that the other person always took care of or maybe there’s a permanent empty space in our lives.

But as we continue on in our lives we, hopefully, find ways to remember those who have gone before.  Every year on November 10 the bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald is rung 31 times in the maritime cathedral – 29 times for each crewmember, once for every sailor who lost their life on the Great Lakes, and once for Gordon Lightfoot who immortalized that ship and crew.  On November 11 people around the world remember those who served and/or gave their lives in military service.  On All Saints’ Sunday the church remembers all the saints of God, both known and unknown to us. 

And we remember at other times and in other ways.  I remember my dad who couldn’t contain his laughter as he read Amelia Bedelia to our very young daughter, or the passion he had for his favorite football team. 

Death may be inevitable, but our remembrances are vitally important.  May we find ways to remember those who have gone before in ways that bring us joy.

Blessings,

November 5, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Death

Nobody gets out of here alive.

Over the last few days I’ve been thinking a lot about death.  Last weekend was the triduum of All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints’ Day, and All Faithful Departed (or Day of the Dead).  On Saturday afternoon I attended a gathering sponsored by Hospice advertised as a “Death Café,” where people come to discuss death and dying.  Later that evening I got a call from Mary Fowlkes’ daughter-in-law saying she had taken a turn for the worse, and I’ve been to Amie Holt each day to check in on her and pray with her.  Sunday we commemorated All Saints’ and All Faithful Departed where I read the names of those who have died this past year at the beginning of the liturgy and which included the baptism of the perfectly adorable Astrid Grant.

Death is an unavoidable consequence of life.  Where there is life, there is death.  That has been the case from the beginning and will continue to be the case until the very end.  So, with the biblical exceptions of Enoch, who “walked with God, then he was no more because God took him,” and Elijah, who ascended to heaven in a whirlwind, everyone dies – even Jesus.

But death is not to be feared.  Even though we die, my faith tells me that my Redeemer lives and he will raise me up.  My faith tells me that Christ has destroyed the bonds of death and that we will live in the glory of the resurrection.  My faith tells me that even though all of us go down to the dust we will make our song, “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”

Let us remember that we all die.  Let us remember that death is no more to be feared.  Let us do our best to prepare ourselves and our loved ones for that time.  Let us live in a way that emulates Christ.  And, at the last, let us live and die in the hope of the resurrection.

Blessings,