Here we go again. The newspaper ads feature turkeys, cranberries and pumpkin pies. In schools, there's talk of Pilgrims - with more myth than reality. Families gather with visions of feasting - and maybe football. The evidence is all around us. It's Thanksgiving!

Now I happen to be a fan of Thanksgiving, though I realize that's not true of everyone. Those folks offer some good reasons. I'm aware that the familiar version of the Thanksgiving story misleads us about the harsh ways our forebears treated the Native peoples and the devastation that resulted from diseases they brought. I'm clear about the fact that while the Puritans and Pilgrims came to this land so they could enjoy religious freedom, they saw no reason they should offer that freedom to anyone else. I'm pretty uncomfortable with all those cutesy figures dressed in black, the ones with tall hats or white caps and aprons. And I know that the vegetarians among us find themselves especially pressured on the fourth Thursday of November.

Despite all that, my own experience with the holiday has been positive and I choose to weigh the good memories into the mix and honor the day. For me it's about family gatherings, with several generations helping in the kitchen and gathered around the table. It's about the children's pine cone turkeys and special leaves amid the carefully matched candles on the table. It's about the moments of remembering other celebrations and well loved folks who can't join us. And most of all, it's about being especially reminded in the weeks around Thanksgiving: reminded to notice and appreciate the many gifts of my life and of life itself.

For me, the cornucopia is the real symbol of Thanksgiving. I stand in wonder at the bounties of this Valley's harvest - the results of good labor and good experience and learning along with good, mysterious power and a good measure of luck. How amazing it is in its variety, its beauty and its sustenance! If you've been outdoors in the past few weeks, you could hardly miss the display of vibrant color. Mother Nature has given us an especially spectacular show this fall. Who can be blase about the gingkoes surrounded by pools of sunshine, the day-glow crimsons of liquid amber and Chinese Pistache, the peach orchards with their parallel drifts of coral? If you've been lucky enough to visit the Sierras in the past few weeks, you've witnessed the amazing salmon colors of the mountain dogwoods. Snatches from the Barbara Pescan poem I read you last week keep running through my head:

May the glory of the passing away of autumn
lie about us
fresh gold
for a time.
And when the dark comes, and the cold
may we remember how today we stand in glory,
how we walk in bounty . . . And shall we not give thanks?

Now I know that we've been bombarded with bad news about the economy all through this fall. The housing market's a disaster and we're in the center of it. Financial institutions are in chaos. Unemployment is up and the markets are down. It's not pretty. And it's not just news of some far-off place or time. Some of us have lost jobs, had our hours cut back, or find the volume of our business diminished. Some of us depend on investments that seem to be vanishing before our very eyes. Some of us had plans to sell our homes, or are paying on mortgages that are higher than the current value of the house. Some wonder how they will keep their kids in college with rising costs, uncertainty about income and talk of enrollment caps. Some of us are fortunate to be able to weather this economic storm, but are putting plans for trips or projects on hold. This is not what we planned and hoped for!

But it's also far from the whole story. We still have great strengths. We are resourceful, talented and caring. We come together in this wonderful community, offering - and receiving - an abundance of gifts. Today's potluck is just one example - a bounty of food for our bodies and also for our spirits. It's communion in a real sense, a sacred gathering. We offer a part of the meal and it comes together in its wonderful variety. We bring a part of ourselves and our care and regard for one another. We trust that the combination, with only minimal controls and flexible categories, will somehow work out to offer something for everyone. And it does. We sit down together, sometimes with those we rarely see or haven't met, and find ourselves sharing pleasantries while we eat, getting to know each other and forming connections. Sometimes we learn something unexpected. Sometimes we find help with a nagging concern or a bit of practical assistance. In all these ways, our pot lucks feed our spirits as well as our faces. Shall we not respond with gratitude?

And a potluck is just one example. I don't usually find sermon material in the Bee's business section, but this past Friday I noticed a little feature that reported what people are doing to manage the stress of the chaotic economy. 84% said they are spending more time with their loved ones and on leisure pursuits. 26% were running, walking or riding their bikes. 21% were spending more time with friends. I'd say those are awfully good choices. Maybe we knew that the slogan, "When times are tough, the tough go shopping!" was a bad joke all along. When pressed, we do better. Of course, this morning's business section has a big feature on the bad choices people are making - drinking too much, eating junk food, and so on. But we're also attending church more.

One of my colleagues, Justin Osterman, recently gave a sermon called "Keeping the Faith While Losing the Farm." He talked about our economic situation and the fear, anger and anxiety that we may feel at all the dire developments. He went on to say,

"When all is said and done, the issue will . be what we made of the experience of living through this historic period of upheaval in the global economy. More than anything, I hope that our losses will sharpen our sense of gratitude for all that we do have. Because the majority of our fellow human beings live very modest lives, to say the least. That we can lose so much, ought to remind us how much we have in the first place. The real test of our spirits-the real expression of our faith-is to not dwell on what is gone, but to savor what we have.

Because, ultimately, "this too shall pass." The storm will blow over and we will do what human beings have been doing for countless millennia. We will emerge from shelter to survey the damage, we will bind up the broken in our midst, and we will set about the task of rebuilding . . . together. That is our real heritage as human beings in community. And we will do so wiser and stronger for the experience, and-one hopes-with a still greater sense of gratitude for the riches that really are the wealth of our life: our families, our neighbors, and our community. The people we care about and who care about us."

I think Rev Osterman is right when he reminds us that our current downturn will end and that we can emerge wiser and stronger. (I think the wiser and stronger part requires some thoughtfulness and intentionality, but that's another sermon.) I do want to note that the section I quoted has a sense of pulling our awareness inward, of hunkering down with our own while the world does its chaotic thing. When you read the whole sermon, that's not what he means. And I want to emphasize the idea that we still need to think globally and to use that wide perspective as we act on the local stage. If there ever was a time when it was possible to survive and flourish as an isolated island-type community, those days are gone.

That said, it's clear that Americans are changing their ways. The drop in our demand for gasoline is an obvious indicator as are the reported activities I mentioned. Lately, I've even heard that neglected word "frugality" - and in a positive context. I admit to being old enough to remember when frugality was something of a virtue, though that idea has been out of fashion for quite a while. I remind you that being frugal is different from penny-pinching or stinginess. Rather, it means being careful with your resources, avoiding waste and insisting on good value. Those things are environmentally sound as well as good financial practice. In traditional religious language, they are part of good stewardship. Furthermore, frugality includes room for bounty and generosity. It relishes gifts of the harvest, gifts of community and gifts of the spirit. It can gladly make room for the needs of others. I applaud the reappearance of placing a value on frugality. And I think all these things are related to gratitude.

You may remember seeing a piece in the UU World magazine about a year and a half ago, which made the case that gratitude should be the defining value or virtue of Unitarian Universalism. The author, Galen Guengerich, argues that at its foundation, religion is part a sense of awe and part a sense of obligation. I would translate that as appreciation for the wonder, mystery and beauty of Life and then a response to them. Sort of, `I'm in the midst of this amazing world. In view of that, what's the best way for me to live?' Guengerich says that the question needs more than an intellectual response; that it's something we must practice as well as choose. He recommends gratitude and reminds us that we depend on others and our world for our very survival. Shall we not give thanks? And shall we not also contribute to the world's store of blessing?

Guengerich suggests two practices that can make us more aware of the gifts around us and then move us to make our own contributions. Please note that he's talking about daily practices, not just something we might do as occasional exercises. One habit he mentions is the keeping of a "gratitude journal". The idea is that each day, perhaps in the morning or evening, you list the people, things and experiences for which you are grateful. Soon, he says, you'll find yourself noticing more - the crunch of fallen leaves under your feet, the reappearance of the goldfinches at your feeder, the kindness of a stranger who holds the door open for you or offers an unexpected smile. Gratitude gives us a different way of looking at the world.

The second suggestion Guengerich makes is that we revive the old practice of pausing at meals, perhaps particularly at dinner, to offer thanks and praise. He recommends lines from Psalm 118 which they use in his church each week. "This is the day we are given. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." Some families invite each person to name the best thing that happened during the day. This shifts our attention and inspires appreciation.

The gifts of our lives - and of Life itself - are so many! These practices may help us to remember that bounty when things seem uncertain, when we are faced with challenges that seem too great, when threat seems to surround us. And once we're reminded our outlook changes. An attitude of gratitude means that we see the world differently and respond to it in ways consistent with that new view. We can't control our world, can't change a crisis by rant or will or prayer. But we can change ourselves. Rabbi Benjamin Blech notes, "We can be bitter or better." It may not come naturally. We may need lots of practice. But we can choose a practice of gratitude rather than giving in to discouragement, to railing against our fate or to reassuring illusions. Rev Osterman says he prays, not for economic changes, but for

"patience in trying situations,
for wisdom gained from hardship,
for strength in difficult times,
for a sense of gratitude at all times,
and for a compassionate heart that I might be aware of and attuned to those whose hardship, loss, and suffering are far greater than my own."

I don't pretend to be expert at all this, but I offer the possibility that cultivating "a sense of gratitude at all times" may be key to the rest. Gratitude may keep us from edging toward hopelessness and instead to take steps that increase the world's store of blessing and goodness. Gratitude, I submit, is not the same as acceptance or satisfaction with things as they are. As you know, I am fond of Martin Luther King, Jr's saying that there are things to which we all should be maladjusted. I think that gratitude can prompt us to act to ensure that Life's good gifts are spread more widely. It can encourage us to protect our environment - knowing that our planet's system sustains us all. Gratitude can spur us to act for justice. I'd say that these possibilities are good reasons for Unitarian Universalists to embrace it, to use it as a guide. Both in good times and in trying ones.

You may be wondering if we haven't wandered awfully far from the Thanksgiving holiday we'll be celebrating this week. And in a way we have. We've looked at what Thanksgiving might say to us if we go well beyond the traditional stories. And I hope we can see that the idea of giving thanks can be more than a yearly November remembrance; that gratitude can be both a virtue and a habit. I hope we can begin to embrace it as a practice, a discipline which can bring us new awareness and energize us in responding to other people and to the world in ever more positive and productive ways. I hope we'll renew our efforts to show our appreciation for our blessings great and small, for the people we encounter and for our surroundings day by day. These repeated grateful responses extend through webs of connection far beyond our seeing, and we affect the world. Of course, wider action is also within our sight. And gratitude can provide both direction and energy for that as well. It can help us make a difference.

So Happy Thanksgiving! May this season's celebration expand appreciation within and between us. May it help us to form habits and attitudes that pervade our lives and guide our choices. May we savor the bounty and beauty that surround us this day, and all our days, ever saying "Yes" and "Thank you" to Life.

November 23, 2008

This is one of our Minister's Sermons. We also have a brief biography of Rev. Simons, and the latest edition of Grace Notes, a column she writes for our newsletter.
We have another sermon collection, from our Guests.