Eighteen people gathered together for worship on Thanksgiving Sunday, October 13th. The scripture reading was Psalm 65:5-12 which we read responsively. Julia entitled her message “How Can We Say Thanks.” _Did we know that in Canada there are over 15,000 grocery stores and each of these stores has (on average) over 31,700 different items? So let us take responsibility for our over abundance and give deep gratitude for what we have so we do not take anything for granted. The Earth gives us these gifts. The gifts we can offer are our amazement, gratitude, wonder, and joy on this Thanksgiving weekend and always. As we shared our Thanksgiving communion, I wonder for what and how we say thanks,
Then on October 20th, thirteen people joined Julia as she continued her “Attending to Earth Series.” _She entitled her message “Grieving God” _and read the scripture Genesis 6:5-7; 8 20-22 which begins and ends the story of Noah and the flood. God grieved when God saw how humans were inclined towards evil and turned away from God. Julia asked, “Do we still grieve God?” _For God is in pain and wants to restore beautiful Earth. At the present time grief is a necessary part of the ecological changes happening around us. And grief is not easy but necessary, There remains incredible beauty in the world. We were asked to form small groups and discuss, “What is God grieving today?” And so I ask, “How do we respond to God’s grief?”
Written by Marie Wedderburn