American Eagle, TJ Maxx, H&M, those are her haunts. But with bad economic news bombarding her daily, there’s something that brings the stylish Mancuso more pleasure than buying jeans and tops: returning those jeans and tops – unworn.
A natural consequence of regularly saying “Thanks be to God” is that one begins to notice all the people in everyday encounters who are to be thanked for what they do. Saying “Thank you” to the checkout clerk at the store becomes specific, thanking her for the care she has taken to wrap my breakable items carefully. I find myself adding, “I hope you’re having a good day, too,” in response to her parting “Have a good day.”
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.
The Continental Congress and its president were thankful for the new nation, but beyond that they also sought forgiveness. Washington’s proclamation said the nation was to “beseech God to pardon our national and other transgressions.”
A new site is out to change the way we understand the Christmas holiday by recasting it so that it is viewed through the lens of the Season of Advent.
“It is so good to see you!” When we say that to each other on Sundays, or at a reunion, we are not just making conversation. “I see you” is in fact an African greeting. To see each other, gathered for church, is to see who we are in God’s presence. We sing together, with great enthusiasm and expressiveness; we gather at the altar, and we recognize in these experiences glimpses of who God calls us to be as a human family.
Many churches have begun to recognize that Festivals of Lessons and Carols, celebrations of Christmas, and children’s pageants do not meet everyone’s needs. To fill this gap churches offer a Blue Christmas service, a Service of Solace or Longest Night. People who are not having a very merry Christmas and friends who support them are invited to come and sit with one another in a liturgy that speaks of the love of God for the grieving.
Perhaps it isn’t too early to prepare for Christmas by considering why Mary’s face is so central to the visual world of Christianity. However secularized the so called ‘Holidays’ are becoming, the mail that will soon be pouring into mailboxes will certainly contain some cards showing her gazing out at us, or returning the smile of her baby son. Let’s prepare to receive them with fresh insight.
Many Episcopal churches around the country celebrated Dia de Los Muertos – the Day of the Dead, on All Souls or sometime during the past
All Hallows—or All Saints as we know it now is something of a confusion in these latter days. Who we remember, what we remember, and why has been blurred: sometimes on accident, sometimes on purpose. All Saints, All Souls, and the difference between them lie at the intersection of the Church’s musings on Scripture, on the Church Expectant, the Church Triumphant, and the overarching principle of the baptized dead knit into the living Christ.