“O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his steadfast love endures forever!”
--Psalm 118:1
This month we place greater emphasis on the theme of stewardship. Our theme is “Make It Simple”. Together we will learn more about simple living and generosity. Given that Thanksgiving Day is also this month, our stewardship theme seems especially timely. Counting one’s blessings makes it easier to be generous. Of course, anytime is a good time to give thanks to God and to be generous in our giving. But perhaps it takes a greater degree of faith to give when times are lean and depression is in the air. One of the characteristics of depression--whether an economic depression or depression as a psychological condition--is a tendency to pull inward. In an economic depression, people tend to keep their money closer to themselves. Overall, giving to charities decreases. It becomes easier to focus on scarcity rather than abundance. In the case of emotional depression, it usually takes more energy to be outward and outgoing. However, when we live by faith, we go in a different direction. We reach out.
It has been wonderful to see our congregation reach out in recent weeks through various projects. There were Peace volunteers at Christ Lutheran Church for the Thrivent Homegrown Help Truck, in which food was distributed to the needy in the community. Each week members of Peace deliver meals to the elderly and disabled through the Spokane Valley Meals on Wheels program. Last week there was a table of Peace members at the “Journey To Joy” fundraising meal to benefit Lutheran Community Services. Over $10,000 was raised at the event. This past weekend we had our Peace Rummage Sale, which raised $2,163.79 (including matched money) for Lutheran Community Services, Spokane Meals on Wheels, Spokane Partners, and the Eastern Washington-Idaho Synod of the ELCA. This would not have been possible without many volunteer hours (as well as donations) being given by Peace members.
As we gather around dinner tables on Thanksgiving Day--and as we gather weekly around the table of Holy Communion--let us offer our thanks and praise to our God of abundance. We praise the One who showed us that the way of truly abundant life includes extending ourselves and sharing what we have--our time, our talent, our treasure--with others.
Truly, living is giving.

Pastor Dennis