Reflecting on the season, Bishop David Bard says that Thanksgiving reminds us to pay attention, to notice, and to celebrate kindness, goodness, justice, community, beauty, and love when we see them…
“Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in every situation because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, CEB).
“Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks. Then the peace of God that exceeds all understanding will keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7, CEB).
Autumn moves so quickly. Here we are at the beginning of November, with only two months left in 2025. Toward the end of the month, we will celebrate Thanksgiving. I really enjoy this holiday, though I understand why some do not. For some, it represents excess and encourages unhealthy eating habits. The holiday papers over the more difficult and complicated history between Indigenous people and those who arrived on these shores from Europe. I think we can hold that more complex history while retaining an appreciation of the day. I admire that for many who have enough, Thanksgiving brings out a generous spirit, with a desire to ensure others eat well on this day. As a pastor, Thanksgiving was a day I could spend with family without additional responsibilities. Not to mention that I enjoy cooking a turkey.
I appreciate an emphasis on gratitude and giving thanks, even in difficult times, and we are indeed living in difficult times. One of our challenges is that while many would agree we live in difficult times, the descriptions of what is difficult about our times vary enormously. Sometimes, these descriptions are so widely varied that one wonders if we will find enough agreement to address shared problems together. Can we identify a “common good”? I think of a passage from political philosopher Hannah Arendt’s book Men in Dark Times: “Dark times . . . are not only not new, they are no rarity in history.”
Some of you have heard me share this passage from a 2015 interview with Francis Weller in The Sun. Some of you may have heard me share this before, but it remains meaningful and powerful: “The work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other and to be stretched large by them. How much sorrow can I hold? That’s how much gratitude I can give. If I carry only grief, I’ll bend toward cynicism and despair. If I have only gratitude, I’ll become saccharine and won’t develop much compassion for other people’s suffering. Grief keeps the heart fluid and soft, which helps make compassion possible.”
We live in difficult times, and every difficult time is unique in its own way. And we trust that God is at work, always at work toward compassion, generosity, kindness, justice, peace, reconciliation, beloved community, beauty, and love. God is always at work to redeem and restore. A crucial dimension of the spiritual life in Jesus, as attested to in the scriptures from 1 Thessalonians and Philippians noted above, is to bear witness to this. To bear witness to this, we must pay attention to the inbreaking of compassion, generosity, kindness, justice, peace, reconciliation, beloved community, beauty, and love in our world.
At its best, Thanksgiving can remind us to pay attention, to notice, and to celebrate kindness, goodness, justice, community, beauty, and love. Small acts of kindness happen frequently — a hug offered, a smile shared, a hand held, food provided. People raise their voices of conscience to point us in a better direction. Words on a page spark a new thought or illuminate the human situation. A walk in the woods reminds us of the beauty of creation. Music can lift the soul. There are so many moments that might, in the lovely phrase of the poet Seamus Heaney, “catch the heart off guard and blow it open.” Notice. Pay attention.
Hannah Arendt in Men in Dark Times went on to write: “Even in the darkest of times we have the right to expect some illumination, and that such illumination may well come less from theories and concepts than from the uncertain, flickering, and often weak light that some men and women, in their lives and their works, will kindle under almost all circumstances.” Notice. Pay attention.
At its best, attending to kindness, goodness, justice, community, beauty, and love encourages generosity — both generosity of spirit and generosity in giving of time and other resources. As we attend to beauty, kindness, and goodness, while not ignoring brutality, injustice, and cruelty, we find ourselves with larger hearts, greater patience, a willingness to listen more deeply and carefully, and an ability to give people a bit more slack. Couldn’t we use more generosity of spirit in our world?
As I’ve already noted, Thanksgiving also encourages generosity in sharing time and resources. Thank you to all who work for and participate in community Thanksgiving dinners. You are extending the grace of God in Jesus. I know you will find additional ways to exercise your generosity as the year comes to a close, perhaps in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa or due to the delay in SNAP benefits resulting from the government shutdown.
I would like to remind us of our commitment as a conference to the Gardens of Hope campaign for our Haiti ministry partners. Approved at the 2025 Michigan Annual Conference, Gardens of Hope will provide vital resources that empower local farmers, educate children, and enhance health care access. It is my hope that, prior to our 2026 Michigan Annual Conference, every congregation will have made some contribution to this campaign. Find downloadable promotional materials and videos on this web page.
Finally, I would like to inform you of an upcoming denominational offering set for the spring of 2026. The Love Boldly, Serve Joyfully, Lead Courageously and Miracle Sunday Initiative will unite 30,000 congregations worldwide to extend the mission of The United Methodist Church and to raise vital support for The Endowment for Theological Education outside the United States. The Miracle Sunday offering will help close the funding disparity between U.S. theological schools and those outside the United States and increase theological education for more pastors. More information about this effort will be forthcoming.
May your Thanksgiving be blessed. May you look for goodness and beauty, kindness and generosity, justice and love, and may you be surprised by how and where you find it. May you be those through whom God loves the world.
Last Updated on November 5, 2025