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Dear Families,
November is one of my favorite months. Not because it’s suddenly dark at 4:15pm, or rainy, or cold. No, none of those things scream “this is the very best!” to me personally. Rather, I love November because it marks a season of change, a season of hope and most of all, a season of gratitude. In nature, of course it’s the changing of the weather. The trees lose their leaves, and snow starts to be visible on the mountaintops in the distance. In the hours of darkness increasingly becoming greater than the hours of light, naturally we seek ways to see differently, or use our time with sunlight more purposefully. And though in the darkness, and in the rain, and even the gloom, I personally consider November the time when a season of hope really begins. Liturgically, we are gearing up for Advent, a time of hopeful, joyful anticipation for the birth of Christ, who arrives just at the darkest point in the year, to be a great light and a beacon. We head into this season seeking our True North, Christ the Savior. Hope is the belief in more than just us, and in God’s plan. Hope isn’t just a wish and a prayer. It’s a knowledge that God is at work in the seen and unseen, in the known and unknown. That God works at the center of it all, the center being love. Finally, I see this season as one of gratitude. It’s a time to give thanks for the many blessings in our lives, those in the present, those in our past and those yet to come. It’s also giving thanks for the basics that we often take for granted; food, shelter, warmth, light, etc. In a time of year when so many go without, we are encouraged to give thanks for what we have, not what we don’t. It’s a time when we are asked to seek out ways to help our neighbors on our margins, to be the hands and feet of Christ for one another; to not judge, but simply to love, and serve alongside those who need us, and who we need in return. In the newsletter today you’ll see many ways to give back your time, talent and treasure. Perhaps it can seem like “so many asks” or “too much”. We are called to do what we can, for who we can, and in any way that we can, in the time that we have been gifted. We cannot do everything, but everyone can do something. When we all give a little of ourselves, I believe that the world, perhaps, becomes just a little bit brighter.
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