Window on the Word

Thanksgiving is a time when families and friends gather to share love and togetherness through food and fellowship. Yet, it seems that many of our modern ways of expressing thanksgiving are focused on individual statements of gratitude rather than communal belonging and blessings. This Thanksgiving weekend, the Rev. Dr. Michael Brooks reflects on how the experience of the Christian church, Jesus' parable of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22:1-14, and the reminders to Israel in Deuteronomy 8:7-18 offer a form of thanksgiving that expands our perspective from "me" to "we."

Theologian Diana Butler Bass says, "Giving thanks is the primary communal emotion of Christianity." It's an emotion that we see in our prayers together and in the church's oldest traditions of meal-sharing: Commuion, or the Eucharist, and a reminder that the "Me to We" mindset is much, much older than the not-for-profits, campus organizations and various self-help books that have grown in recent years. How might we embrace this mindset in the Thanksgiving season?

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We pray it every Sunday: "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." Whether we substitue words like "sins" or "debts," it's a reminder that we have all been there, on both sides of the equation. In Matthew 18:21-35, Jesus gives an even clearer and bolder answer to how we as a community of faith should forgive. The Rev. Dr. Michael Brooks reflects on the challenges of forgiving, and how the Gospel calls us to stretch our capacity to forgive. How can forgiveness help us and others through difficult times?

If you'd like to discover more about our community, you can visit our website at portnelson.ca.

Follow Us On:

Facebook: /PortNelsonUnitedChurch
Instagram: @portnelsonuc
Twitter/X: @PortNelsonUC
YouTube: @PortNelsonUnitedChurch