News for the ‘Thanksgiving’ Category

An Interfaith Community Thanksgiving

Once again, it is time for our annual Community Thanksgiving Service. The service will be on Tuesday, November 25th , at 7 p.m. and hosted by Lancaster United Methodist Church, located at 918 West Ave. J. This will be AVIC’s ninth community Thanksgiving service. Through the years we have chosen themes focusing on coming together as a community and celebrating our blessings.

We all know the story of the first Thanksgiving when the Pilgrims faced their first winter on a new continent that they knew very little about. Fortunately for the Pilgrims, the Native American Indians chose to be neighborly, teaching the Pilgrims how to farm, and catch game. The Pilgrims and Indians then shared their plentitude together in celebration of their accomplishments and survival. More Pilgrims would surely have perished during the harsh winter that followed without the help of the Indians.

As a nation, we now keep the tradition of the first Thanksgiving, taking twenty-four hours once a year to give thanks for all our blessings. Like everything else in modern times, even Thanksgiving has been commercialized; however, the marketing frenzy seems less intense for Thanksgiving in comparison to other holidays. Let’s take advantage of these conditions and step back to examine what giving thanks really means.

It’s easy to focus on all the bad stuff that happens in life. Current times are not easy for any of us– with foreclosures, high gas prices, the increased cost of living that has resulted, drought, global warming, unemployment, the on-going war, and the state of political leadership in our country. “What’s to be thankful for,” you wonder?

Believe it or not, gratitude can improve our lives. Re-programming how we think can improve our outlook, relationships and quality of life. If we just shift our emphasis to focus on what we have rather than what we are lacking. We could consider keeping a gratitude journal. We could write down what we are thankful for daily. Even the challenges of life can be recorded in a positive way, such as: “I survived the commute to work today” or “I have been able to pay my mortgage for another month.” Hard times do serve a purpose in this life and can help us to develop new skills, and appreciate the basics of life. People can live without new cars, expensive vacations, and the latest clothing styles. After all, these things are fun and can add to our quality of life, but sometimes they distract us from what is really important.

Traditionally, giving thanks means saying grace, showing gratitude for the food we are about to eat. It can also be an opportunity for sharing special moments through family story telling or the sharing of a memory. This is a good time to celebrate the important things we have, the things that continue to be a part of our lives, whether we are experiencing good times or bad. Our foundation is made up of those who lend meaning to our lives including family, friends, the good works we do, and knowing we belong to something that is bigger than ourselves.

We invite you to join us on the 25th to experience a combination of different traditions as we gather together at the community table to say grace in a variety of traditions.

Gratefully,
AVIC’s Community Thanksgiving Committee

Edited: October 20th, 2008

What I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving, part 7

I am thankful for a spiritual philosophy of life that stresses gratitude as one of the main tenents of the teaching. Knowing that gratitude is the cornerstone of a life filled with all forms of abundance, I express it and it becomes my invisible means of support and comfort. As Norman Vincent Peale taught “…a basic law: the more I practice the art of thankfulness, the more I have to be thankful for. Thankfulness tends to reproduce in kind. The attitude of gratitude revitalizes the entire mental process by activating all other attitudes, thus stimulating creativity.” Norman Vincent Peale.

“The more gratefully I fix my mind on the Supreme when good things come to me, the more good things I receive, and the more rapidly they will come. Gratitude leads my mind out along the ways by which things come; and it keep me in close harmony with creative. Look for the good!!

And strangely I am thankful for the not so good experiences in my life, because they give me the opportunity to learn and grow. Things are perfect exactly as they are or they wouldn’t be that way–even if I’m not enjoying the experience and process.

This is the impetus for the Antelope Valley Interfaith Council’s theme for its Thanksgiving Eve service being THE ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE.

Rev. Maxine Schiltz, founding Pastor of Revealing Truth-a metaphysical center.

Edited: November 14th, 2007

What I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving, part 6

I have many blessings in my life. One of the reason’s that my family and I
can enjoy our current quality of life is impart due to our own hard work and
the struggle and sacrifice of past generations. I give thanks to family and
friends for the choices and options we enjoy due to their efforts. I am
blessed with wonderful family, friends, and service to God and my community.
For me a life full of meaning comes through meaningful work whether it is to
family, friends, God and community. Self actualization through service.

Deborah Shelton
President, AVIC

Edited: November 14th, 2007

What I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving, part 5

Within Wicca, we acknowledge that we have many wonderful things in our
lives, be it family, friends, comfortable home, transportation, or good
health. We also acknowledge that we actively manifest our reality by
affirmations. Our Gods contribute to our personal responsibility,
and that we are reaping what we have sown in our lives.

I give thanks for my life in a country where I can worship freely the
religion of my choice, and I continue to choose to support others

who can share a vision of a land of the free and home of the brave.
May Goddess and God bless our country and all it’s inhabitants, human,
animal, and plant, as each one has the spark of the Divine within.

Elder Priestess Lisa Morgenstern
credentialed through Covenant of the Goddess
National Public Information Officer, Covenant of the Goddess
HPS Dragon¹s Weyr Circle
Antelope Valley Pagan Pride Day Coordinator

Edited: November 14th, 2007

What I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving, part 4

I am grateful for my parents still being alive and well.

I am grateful for the Wisdom of the ages that assists in the enlightenment of all beings; and the sun of this wisdom that shines everywhere upon all people equally through varied and numerous Teachings.

I am grateful for the precious and beautiful eternal moment of the everlasting here and now; to have all my limbs and senses intact, giving me the freedom and ability to fully encounter and experience all the wonders of life; and to finally have enough wisdom and maturity to appreciate it all.

Dianna Rimer – Buddhism, Center of Light

Edited: November 13th, 2007