First Parish Unitarian UniversalistGiving Thanks
Sermon by the Rev. Diane Teichert
First Parish Unitarian Universalist - Canton, MA
November 19, 2000
Bell
Music to gather by
Introit with Chimes
Prelude
Welcome
Silent Preparation for Worship
Let us pause, and in a moment of silence, give thanks for being alive, for being together, here, today, …..and open our hearts and minds for a time of worship together.
Opening Words
Welcome to this our annual service of thanksgiving when we all, old timers and newcomers, youngsters and sages, worship together for the entire hour.
There is, though, as usual, nursery care for infants and toddlers. And a time of fellowship for all, following the service.
Thanksgiving is about gratitude, the spiritual virtue of being grateful, of giving thanks for all that is our life, for our bounty of riches, both material and not-material.
Gratitude is a spiritual place out of which we may meet our days with grace, a way of living in which we are ever mindful of all the blessings and benefits life has given us.
Gratitude also is a response, when we say "thank-you" and when we share what we have with others.
Today, in this service, you are invited to dwell for a while in that deeps place that is gratitude, and to participate in the response that is, also, gratitude.
Please rise as you are able to sing the Opening Hymn, #68, Come Ye Thankful People Come
Would the Chalice Lighter please come forward?
We light the Chalice, symbol of our living tradition,
In memory of the brave Unitarians who first used it as a symbol of freedom as they aided those persecuted under the Nazi's.
And in thanks for the freedoms we enjoy today, including the freedom to worship as we please.
And now let us recite together the Covenant of First Parish.
Love is the doctrine of this church, the quest for truth is its sacrament and service is its prayer. To dwell together in peace with respect and understanding, to seek knowledge in freedom, to serve our fellows and humankind to the end that all souls shall grow together into harmony–thus do we covenant with each other and with our God, by whatsoever name we worship.
From all that dwell below the skies,
Let words of love and peace arise;
Let songs of joy and praise be sung,
Through every land, by every tongue.
Greetings
I invite you now to greet one another as the children and young people come forward for A Time for All Ages ??but contrary to our custom, I ask that those not coming forward please share greetings with each other without walking around leaving your pews.??
Time for All Ages
Max Coots poem
Joys and Sorrows
Meditation
Let us now be together in the quiet of this place, in the quiet of this hour. Let us sit still in the stillness and listen for the sound of our breathing, quietly, naturally, breathing deeply, in and out, in and out, the breath of life, the spirit of life. As the quiet settles around us, let us remember those people whose joys and sorrows were shared today. Let us hold them in the light of the love in our hearts, surrounding them with it, filling them with it, like a prayer, so that their joys are multiplied by as many as there are of us here today and so the burden of their sorrows and concerns are shared by all of us, too. Let us now hold in our hearts friends and family, loved ones whose lives are troubled…troubled situations in our communities, in the state and in our nation, and, finally, the troubled places in this world that we see on TV or read about in the newspapers. In our heart of hearts, we pray for hope and for peace in the lives of our families, neighbors, and unknown people in places far away. May it be so.
Now let us be together for a moment of silence, followed by the Offertory during which your offering to First Parish will be gratefully received.
Homily "Gratitude as Wellspring" into Litany of Thanksgiving
Most of us have a lot to be thankful for. We have a warm house, clean water to drink and air to breath, enough food to eat, and beauty around us. And, even if there is somebody here who has no friends and no family, they still can be thankful that they have somebody who cares about them because we, here, care about each other! So, we all have a lot to be thankful for.
But, sometimes we forget to be thankful. That's too bad, because having that feeling of thankfulness feels good; the more we feel thankful, the more it seems we have to be thankful for. That feeling of thankfulness even can get us through hard times. Sometimes I've noticed that sick people in the hospital are the most grateful people in the world, even though you might think they wouldn't be. They appreciate their nurses, their visitors, simple things like cards and phone calls; even a few hours of uninterrupted sleep– that most of us would take for granted– makes them feel thankful!
I remember when my father was very near to his death. There was not much that he could enjoy anymore. He couldn't eat, or read, or speak very well, and of course he couldn't play tennis anymore. A friend brought him a potpourri of dried fragrant flowers. I remember thinking that was an odd gift to give a man. But, the fact was that although my father could no longer do most of the things he enjoyed, he could still smell things, his nose was still working. His gratitude was so deep and his enjoyment so great of that simple gift.
I think gratitude is like a bottomless well of fresh water. Once you get into the habit of dipping into the well of gratitude, it seems that there is always something to be grateful for! That kind of habit might be called a spiritual practice. It might not be easy to do every day, but if we make an effort to do it, the habit of gratitude gives us hope and energy and peacefulness. You can do it by yourself, just by asking yourself, what am I glad for today? Or, you can do it with somebody else or even a few people, just by answering the question out loud, sharing your answers.
Thanksgiving gives us an opportunity to practice the habit of thankfulness, to dip into that well of gratitude and really celebrate that feeling of being thankful. In a moment, we are going to practice the habit of gratitude.
Each of you– I hope–has a small square of paper and a pencil. If you don't, please raise your hand and an usher will bring you what you need. During the quiet organ music, please write one or two, definitely no more than three, things for which you are deeply thankful on your piece of paper. If you are seated next to someone for whom it is difficult to write, please offer to help them. If there is a small child, please help him or her write something that they are glad for. After you are finished, these papers will be given to one person who will read all the answers from your pew aloud as part of a thanksgiving litany.
Now, take a few moments to write one or two things for which you are deeply grateful. (pause)
In each pew, I hope there is one person who will be willing to read aloud everybody's gratitudes, using the microphone as Sarah brings it around. Please pass your pieces of paper to one person. After each person reads what they have on the pieces of paper from their pew, we will all say, "For these, we are thankful."
Hymn #164 the People's Peace
Homily "Gratitude as Response" into Sharing Our Bounty with Musical Meditation
When gratitude feels deep, like a bottomless well, it just seems to want to bubble up and over, like an endless waterfall. That's when gratitude becomes a response. That's when we just can't help saying "thank-you."
Some of us may direct that "thank-you" somewhere, expressing thanks to God, the Goddess or to life itself, to each other, to the earth, the universe…and others of us may simply…feel…deeply grateful. However, we express it, gratitude then has become a response, a "thank you!"
It's only natural, then, to want to share what we've been given with others, especially those who may not have the bounty of good in their lives that we enjoy. Today, there are two ways for you to participate in sharing your bounty. One, is to bring forward food to share and the other is to take home with you a Guest at Your Table Box or envelope.
Many of you have brought food and other items to share with the people who come to the Canton Food Pantry to get food because they don't have enough to eat. I asked you to bring a favorite food that you just really want to share and/or an item from the list of things that the Pantry currently really needs. In a few moments, you can come forward to place what you brought on or near the altar.
The Guest at Your Table Boxes (or envelopes) provides us with a way to support the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. This UU organization that was founded during World War II to aid people escaping the Nazi terror, these days uses a partnership model to work in certain countries around the world to help people to rise up out of situations of violence and injustice. The UUSC also advocates for American foreign policy initiatives that will improve the situation in these countries and for improvements in U.S. welfare reform to benefit poor American children. In addition, the UUSC sponsors work-camps in which Unitarian Universalists have been helping to re-build churches that were destroyed by arson, working with people who live in a toxin-polluted neighborhood in Oakland CA to get their area cleaned up, and assisting Native American tribal organizations in South Dakota with projects ranging from construction to children's day camp activities.
If you put this little box in your kitchen or dining room, wherever you eat, and put money into it at each meal, it will be like you had a guest at your table from one of the countries or one of the work-camps where the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee is involved. And, when you bring your box back to First Parish in January and your money gets added to everybody else's in our congregation, it will be a sizable contribution.
Starting with the last pew on both sides of the meetinghouse, I invite you to quietly come forward with their food for the Canton Food Pantry and take back with you a Guest at Your Table box or envelope. Please wait until the pew behind you is has started returning before you get up, so that we have an orderly procession bearing gifts and no line of people waiting.
The choir will start singing an "Alleluia" that you might recognize as Pachelbel's Canon. As you are waiting for your turn to come forward or after you get back to your pew, please join in with the choir, singing the part that is printed in your order of worship. You can sing its melody or one of the harmony lines.
Another Time for All Ages
"There Was an Old Lady" Sarah (children return to pews)
Prayer
Let us join our hearts and minds together in prayer and meditation.
O, spirit of life and of love,
We have been drawing from the wellspring of gratitude, remembering and naming what we are most thankful for this day. And, we have been saying thank you and sharing from the bounty of benefits and blessings in our lives. We've been quiet, we've sung, we've laughed, and now we are praying.
May we make of gratitude a habit, a spiritual practice. May we become more and more a grateful people. May the feeling of gratitude run ever deeper in our lives, and may we be ever quicker to respond with thanks and with sharing. Amen.
Closing Hymn #128 For All that is Our Life
Benediction
For all things which come to us
As gifts of being from sources beyond ourselves;
Gifts of life and love and friendship
We lift up our hearts in thanks this day. Amen.