FEATHER (Prayer): Creator God, we the children of your creation lift the prayer feather of Thanksgiving. In this season that you have so freely gifted, we give thanks for gifts seen and unseen. Grant us openness of heart and mind to know you are ever with and before us in all things. Forgive us that we have turned so far inward that we do not see your grace and mercy, that we do not see with clarity the love that you have for all creation. Fill us with your peace that we might seek to be peace and walk in peace, bless us that we might be a blessing to all and may your light and Spirit be with us in all our journeys. This we pray in the name of the one who is peace, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
SAGE (Offering): “For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness.” (2 Peter 1:5)
As a community we step into a new month and look back on an eventful summer. We have been blessed with family gatherings and holidays, but there have also been challenges; many have been touched by wildfires and have lost so much, and difficulties have joined our steps through life and faith. I have heard from and visited places where much was lost and pains were felt deeply—but I’ve also heard that the church has stood as a beacon of hope and source of strength for so many. For this I lift a feather of prayer in thanksgiving, as this is what the church was meant to be in moments like these.
As I write this, I’m looking at an aerial photo of a small countryside church in the middle of a field, surrounded by headstones of loved ones long passed—a place where death and the future life of hope and promise come together with the people of the present who pray and are held up in prayer. Golden fields of wheat wave in the cool autumn breeze; the well-worn driveway and gravel parking lot tell of summer services and potlucks on the front lawn. This is a community that through faith, love and hope gathers from many corners of the land, and it makes me give thanks for the memory of the small country churches I have served.
What does the image of church in your mind’s eye suggest to you? Is it a place of community in Christ, seeking truth and peace in the Word (yes, even in the midst of difficult scriptural passages), and a place of welcome and true inclusion where love and understanding abound?
The church can mean so much or so little to all of us, as is evident in this time and age, but if we keep Christ at the centre of all things, it can’t help but be a place of beauty, peace, life and promise. So support your church with your prayers and being. May the light of Christ bless you and your families in this season of Thanksgiving, and may your hearts be open to see grace and mercy before you as you are blessed to be a blessing to others this day and always.
