“Thanksgiving Day is an opportunity for people of faith, no faith and little faith to unite, pause and give thanks.
“One of my fondest memories in a congregation was when St. Paul’s Church in White River Junction, Vt., opened her heart and doors for a Thanksgiving feast for anyone in the parish and community. We had parishioners who would have eaten alone or as a couple with no family, families with children seeking wider fellowship, the homeless and poor who could not afford a meal.
“The Episcopal Church is a eucharistic community. Eucharist means thanksgiving. We may not have had Eucharist at the altar that day in Vermont, but we gave Eucharist to each other in the love, fellowship and meal of that precious gathering in the presence of a loving God who blesses us with an abundance of love and resources meant to be shared and given away.
“We have so much to be thankful for, even as we mourn the loss of lives and suffering due to war; loss of jobs and homes in this economy; and the increasing inequities between rich and poor.
“Besides giving thanks for my family, friends and the eucharistic communities in our diocese, I will be giving thanks to God for this fragile and beautiful earth, our island home, and for all people whose work and sacrifices are helping to repair the harm and abuse caused by our neglect, apathy and carbon emissions.
“Let us ‘lift up our hearts to the Lord’ and let us ‘give thanks to the Lord our God, for it is right to give God thanks and praise’ and may we give each other Eucharist in prayer, fellowship and in the breaking of bread around our dining tables with those we love and are called to love.”