Dear Friends in Christ,
This Sunday we will complete our Fall preaching series on the “fruits of the Spirit.” This week’s fruit, “Gratitude,” is fitting, not only because we will soon be celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday, but also because gratitude is, in many ways the seed of the other fruits that have been part of the series. It also seems fitting this week to share a poem that calls for us to share the fruits of the Spirit in all seasons of life, but especially in those seasons when we might feel discouraged or disheartened: “Continue” by Maya Angelou:
Into a world which needed you
My wish for you
Is that you continue
Continue
To be who and how you are
To astonish a mean world
With your acts of kindness
Continue
To allow humor to lighten the burden
of your tender heart
Continue
In a society dark with cruelty
To let the people hear the grandeur
Of God in the peals of your laughter
Continue
To let your eloquence
Elevate the people to heights
They had only imagined
Continue
To remind the people that
Each is as good as the other
And that no one is beneath
Nor above you
Continue
To remember your own young years
And look with favor upon the lost
And the least and the lonely
Continue
To put the mantel of your protection
Around the bodies of
The young and defenseless
Continue
To take the hand of the despised
And diseased and
walk proudly with them
In the high street
Some might see you and
Be encouraged to do likewise
Continue
To plant a public kiss of concern
On the cheek of the sick
And the aged and infirm
And count that as a
Natural action to be expected
Continue
To let gratitude be the pillow
Upon which you kneel to
Say your nightly prayer
And let faith be the bridge
You build to overcome evil
And welcome good
Continue
To ignore no vision
Which comes to enlarge your range
And increase your spirit
Continue
To dare to love deeply
And risk everything
For the good thing
Continue
To float
Happily in the sea
of infinite substance
Which set aside riches for you
Before you had a name
Continue
And by doing so
You and your work
Will be able to continue
Eternally
May we continue to lean on God and bear the fruits of the Spirit,
P.S. This week we will have another informal hymn sing before the 11:00 a.m. service in the sanctuary. Join us at 10:45 and bring your requests!
