As we hold the incoming Administrative and Legislative members of government in our prayers, may we all find the guiding wisdom and empowering strength to stand for and build upon the values of truth, justice, and equality for all.

Thanksgiving is a festival celebrated at different times in a number of countries around the world. In the United States, tradition traces this amazing holiday back to a harvest feast shared between the Pilgrims of Plymouth and the Indigenous Wampanoag people.

It was in the time of the Civil War that President Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday in the United States to be celebrated in November, and it was President Franklin Roosevelt who signed the resolution in December of 1941 making the fourth Thursday of November the permanent home of the holiday.

It is thought that Thanksgiving was initially a political distraction from a time of great division, or from the broken treaties of the United States, or the violence and oppression suffered by the indigenous peoples of North America at the hands of European settlers and their descendants.

The spirit that lives today regarding this holiday, however, is the idea of unity between peoples and the abundant blessings of the earth. Also, there are the traditions of parades, holiday lighting, football, and the start of the busiest shopping season of the year.

Whatever Thanksgiving looks like for you this year: quiet, or with numerous family, friends, or community members, may your day be filled with fabulous food, great company, and most of all a heart full of appreciation for the ordinary, and extraordinary, blessings of life!

The word “advent” is from the Latin adventus which means “arrival.” Join us on this website each day of the Advent Season for a brief video of contemplative reflection that refreshes the experience of Hope, Love, Peace, and Joy in our lives as we anticipate the arrival of a new birth of Spirit in us.