I am glad that Thanksgiving is over so we can get back to our daily business of giving thanks. Don’t get me wrong, Thanksgiving was great. I enjoyed the Wednesday night services at Redfield and the Thursday afternoon turkey. But now we can get back to our daily business of giving thanks.

My point is that Thanksgiving is not a yearly event which, once celebrated, we can leave behind till the next November. We are God’s chosen people who have been set aside to give Him thanks and praise. And we are a nation of priests, ordained in our baptisms to sacrifice praise. So now that Thanksgiving is over we really can back to our daily business of giving thanks.

Of course that means going out of our way to say thanks. That entails praying before we eat, opening our hymnals on Sunday (and Wednesday), attending the Eucharist (which is the Greek word for Thanksgiving) and bending a knee in service to God and our neighbor.

I know Advent and Christmas loom large, but we don’t leave Thanksgiving behind. We are God’s thankful people, set aside to give Him thanks and praise.

Sub Cruce,

Pastor Utecht