On Birthdays and Blessings…

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big, birthday, blessing, celebrate, God, gratitude, life, little, thankful, ultimate

Photo credit:  https://www.lupus.org.uk/lupus-trust-uk-news/2019/8/2/qzppdr7brifhgd5i9zi7h8o1ia34i0

My husband and I experience our birthdays very differently.  He is perfectly happy to have a quiet, reserved day, wanting to be acknowledged, but not wanting a lot of attention on him.  I, on the other hand, love have a ton of attention on my birthday – songs, cake, cheers, you name it.  So when my daughter insisted I wear a “It’s My Birthday!” sash yesterday, I only hesitated for a second.  What was funny about the sash was the experience I had wearing it.  The funniest reactions were probably at the bus stop.  I think most of the kids must have parents more like my husband as they seemed surprised I was celebrating.  But one kid in particular asked me, “So are you having a big party with your friends tonight?”  When I replied I was not, her response was, “Yeah, I guess you’re too old, huh?”

It’s funny how a six-year old can make you question your life.  I was suddenly wondering, “Should I have assembled a party?  Should I have found other big ways to celebrate?”  But as the evening closed yesterday, I reflected on what my day of celebration entailed:  a breakfast, including eggs and coffee, my children proudly made by themselves; a lunch in the school cafeteria with my older daughter and her friends; an evening watching my younger daughter’s ballet class – an activity I cherished growing up; a surprise dinner by my husband, fully ready upon our return home; not to mention cards, cupcakes, and endless texts, calls, and social media messages.  It wasn’t a party in the traditional sense, but it did feel like wonderful day of celebrating life – my life here and now.

In the last couple of weeks, I have administered last rites, conducted a funeral, spent several days with my dad who was in the hospital, talked to families dealing with crisis, consoled the bereaved, baptized a baby, and heard people’s life stories for the first time.  When you are that deep in the reality of life, parties or treats no longer seem necessary.  What suddenly becomes important are the ultimate things of life – breath, family, loved ones, intimacy, little life moments.

To help me keep celebrating, I invite you this week, to slow down and look at the blessings all around you.  I know some of you are hurting, some of you are just trying to get by, and some of you don’t have that many stressors right now.  Wherever you are, take a moment today to give thanks to God for all your bountiful blessings – big and very small.  Each breath, each day, each year is a gift.  Tell me where you are feeling grateful.  I’d like to celebrate with you!

Homily – II Cor. 9.6-15, Thanksgiving Day, YA, November 27, 2014

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abundance, God, homily, sacred, secular, share, thankful, Thanksgiving Day

One of the funny things about being a priest is the way that everyday people interact with me.  The funniest experiences occur when people first find out I am a priest.  I love seeing the raised eyebrows or hearing the stammers as someone panics about any inappropriate things they might have said in the first ten minutes of our conversation.  Parties with strangers or our children’s school gatherings are always fun as people try to figure out how they should modify their behavior in front of me.  In fact, many of my single and dating priest friends have avoided the conversation altogether about what they do for a living, hoping that the other person will get to know them for who they are, not just what they do.  There really is a sort of cultural divide that I forget about until I get in one of these situations and then have work with someone to create a sense of comfort and commonality.

That cultural divide is no more obvious than on a holiday like Thanksgiving Day.  Today we gather to celebrate what is mostly a secular holiday.  This day has become a day about an abundance of food, watching parades and football, enjoying fellowship with friends and family, and post-turkey naps.  This is a day of giving thanks for the good things of life, but often in a secular way.  I know many people who have a tradition of going around the table and saying something for which they are thankful.  But those things are usually listed without a mention of God.  In fact, the non-specific nature of gratitude this day is what makes it a perfect day for interfaith groups, like our own Plainview-Old Bethpage Interfaith Group, to celebrate – because we can all recognize in our own different ways our gratitude and thanks.

But for us Christians, this day is a little different.  We may do all the same activities: feast, fellowship, and fun; but we also root those activities in gratitude toward God – the source of all our blessings.  For us, today is not just a day to be grateful for the good things in life, but to be thankful to God for our blessings.  That may sound like semantics, but I think that, especially today, our language matters.  So we can still go around the table listing our blessing, but we also acknowledge that God is the source of those blessings.  We can still enjoy a feast, but we begin our meal in a prayer that thanks God for the bounty of the earth, the hands that touch our meal in its many stages, and for the privilege and pleasure of good food.  We can still watch the game or the parade, but we are grateful to God for the blessing of shelter and the disposable income to afford that television and cable service.  And we can still enjoy the company of friends and family because we know that God blesses us with companions on our journey.

So why does our naming God today matter?  What difference does our calling this a sacred day have to do with anything?  The difference is that when we name God in the midst of blessing, there is a “so what?” attached.  Our epistle lesson says today, “God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.”  In other words, when we give thanks today, that is not the end of the story.  When we give thanks today, God is well pleased.  And God also expects us to share that abundance with others.  As the epistle says, our blessing is not strictly for us.  Our blessing is given to us so that our blessing might be a blessing to others.

And that is why we mark this day as a sacred day.  Because if Thanksgiving Day is simply a secular day of being grateful, the day begins and ends with us – our experiences, our gratefulness, our happiness.  But if we celebrate Thanksgiving Day as a sacred day, then the day may begin with us, but the day ends with others – our blessings overflowing to bless others.  That is the true abundance of Thanksgiving Day.  The abundance cannot be contained.  In fact, our epistle lesson says that the more we pass along our abundance, the more that abundance grows, “The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”  So, go home and enjoy all the blessings of this day – and then share those blessings bountifully.  Amen.

A Loving and Thankful Heart…

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blessing, church, faith, flourish, God, heart, stewardship, thankful, tithe

The following post is a guest post from parishioner Barbara Archer:

Courtesy of diapersanddivinity.com.

Our Stewardship Drive for 2014 is quickly drawing to an end and it is my hope that after receiving the Stewardship Committee’s letter and blue-colored pledge card you have been prayerfully considering your pledge to St. Margaret’s Church for the coming year. This year’s theme, “Flourish in Faith,” has a particularly beautiful association for me because it so similarly depicts St. Margaret’s and what has been happening in our parish during the past two years!

Since Jennifer became a part of our church family, as our parish priest, we have seen so many wonderful and overdue changes.  Most importantly, she has encouraged us to Seek, Serve, and Share in numerous ways. This is so important because as the song Day by Day tells us we now, “See thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly, day by day.” To me this is the crux of stewardship: Loving Christ and the Christ that we see and meet in others. I believe that our church family has truly stepped up in their efforts to serve Christ and our collective faith is flourishing! Christ is blessing us with his overwhelming love and in return we want to give thanks to God with an appreciative and thankful heart!

One way that we do this is by giving back ten percent of what He has financially blessed us with.  Many feel that this is a hardship. Some people ask if they have to give all ten percent to the church or can they give to others.  Others say that they can’t give ten percent. To me, this is something between you and Christ, and He knows your heart.  I would only ask you to make your pledge decision after praying and listening to what you are being called to do.

Jesus died on the cross for me and I never forget this. I am very grateful! I am a sinner like each of you but because Christ died on that cross, I have eternal life! This gift of God’s grace to me is priceless! At stewardship time, I give with a loving and thankful heart!

As you put your blue pledge card in the blue envelope and hand it in this Sunday, I have every confidence that with God’s help, our church family will continue to flourish in faith for at least another 50 years because of your generosity!

May God continue to bless you and our St. Margaret’s Church family!

Faithfully in Christ,  Barbara Archer

DON’T FORGET THAT INGATHERING SUNDAY IS THIS SUNDAY, NOV 3RD!