November 24 Update from Eliana Maxim

“...pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Dear friends,

Unprecedented. Anxious. Surreal. Forlorn. Challenging.

All words used to describe our now 9th month of Covid-19 pandemic. And as we make our way into the holiday season, they reverberate as we make amended plans to observe Thanksgiving and Advent. Perhaps you’ll Zoom or Facetime with family or friends, make phone calls, or simply set the table for yourself and call it a day. The strangeness of keeping ourselves apart does not wear off, no matter how long we’ve been practicing it, and it’s only accentuated when we must deny ourselves beloved traditions.

But what if, besides acknowledging our losses and grieving them, we also consider other words. 

Discovery. Solidarity. Empathy. Reflection. Hope.

I invite you to join me in centering these words in our Thanksgiving preparations, whether it be roasting a whole turkey or thawing out a frozen chicken dinner. What if in these “unprecedented times” we take the opportunity to more fully notice the world around us, the very same one we are admonished to keep distant from, but by noticing we can become one with our community? What if in this social distancing and “quarantining” time we gain deeper insight into who we are, what our faith means, how we are one with our neighbors, and where this hope of solidarity can take us?

On this Thanksgiving 2020, I give God thanks for each of you; for your faithfulness to God’s leading and to the church, for your commitment to the Gospel and your call, for your steadfastness in being the church while kept away from the building.

I pray that you and your loved ones find strength in Paul’s words to the Thessalonians; may we pray without ceasing, may we give God thanks in all circumstances. And may you all celebrate the opportunities before us to reflect, consider, learn, and be transformed.

In gratitude,

Eliana Maxim
Co-Executive Presbyter