Dear Calvary Parishioners,
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
My husband reminded me this week of a book that came out years ago: A Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs. In his quest to determine what it’s like to take the Bible 100% literally, Jacobs tries to live out the Mosaic laws, purification codes, and moral mandates of scripture as fully as possible. Along the way he does some delightfully absurd things. These include not trimming the edges of his beard, refusing to sit where a woman who might be “impure” had sat, attempting to stone an adulterer with pebbles, and blowing a ram’s horn in the streets of New York City. But he also commits to the more interior practices, including Paul’s admonition to “give thanks in all circumstances.”
Taking that one literally leads him to a surprising revelation:
What does it look like to give thanks even when things are really terrible?
As many of us gather around tables this week. We’ll be carving turkey, passing rolls, sharing stories, and clinking glasses. It’s easy to imagine Thanksgiving as a universally warm and effortless celebration. But from my seat as your pastor, hearing your lives week in and week out, I know that the days surrounding holidays like this are often fraught: anxieties about family dynamics, grief that resurfaces at empty chairs, financial strain, the weight of caregiving, political tension, or the simple exhaustion of trying to keep it all together.
So as we move through Thanksgiving Day, I want to ask:
What can we be really thankful for this year?
If your table is abundant and your family is healthy and happy, then gratitude may feel like a natural response. Give thanks with your whole heart.
On the other hand, you may find yourself feeling alienated from someone you love, or sitting today with loss, longing, uncertainty, or struggle. What might gratitude look like in those circumstances?
It certainly requires a longer view than the moment itself. Thanksgiving can look like:
- Noticing one small mercy in a day that feels otherwise heavy.
- Giving thanks for resilience you didn’t know you had until life demanded it.
- Naming a hope that hasn’t yet bloomed but still stirs in you.
- Acknowledging the people who show up for you in quiet and unglamorous ways.
- Trusting that God’s presence does not depend on your circumstances.
I believe Paul was onto something. Giving thanks to God is not about pretending our lives are perfect. But giving thanks does have the power to reorient us. Gratitude doesn’t deny pain; it keeps pain from becoming the whole story. It helps us see that even in the messy, complicated chapters of our lives, God is still moving, still loving, still accompanying us.
Whether your Thanksgiving table is full or sparse, joyful or tender, may you find space for the grace of giving thanks in all circumstances, knowing God is with you and is the ultimate source of joy, refuge, and strength.
Faithfully,
The Reverend Allison English, Rector
Calvary Episcopal Church, Cincinnati