Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday — not for its colonial roots and erasure of indigenous peoples, but for the opportunity to slow down and spend time with the people I love most in my life. I love cooking, hosting, and eating. Most importantly, I enjoy the company.

We’re approaching a holiday where we often reflect on the things we are most thankful for in life, but I’ve had one of those weeks where the bad news just keeps coming. Add that on top of our nearly two-year global pandemic, I am more often finding myself thinking about the things I am not grateful for. When it rains it pours, right?

In times like these, the hymn Great Is Your Faithfulness comes to mind. Thomas Chisholm writes in the third verse:

Pardon for sin and a peace so enduring,

your own dear presence to cheer and to guide.

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

blessings all mine with ten thousand beside.

If you have been struggling, too, I pray you will have strength for today and hope for tomorrow. May the love of God and God’s gift of peace be with all of you today and the coming weeks.