Seasons of Gratitude and God’s Sustaining Grace

As the leaves turn and the air grows crisp, we are reminded once again of the changing seasons. Autumn has a way of holding both beauty and loss together - the brilliance of color alongside the barrenness that is coming. It is a season that quietly teaches us what faith has always known: God’s presence is steady, not only in the moments of abundance, but in the seasons of letting go, change, and waiting.

In this time of year, it is easy to slip into a shallow version of gratitude - thankful only for the good things, the bright days, the blessings that feel easy to name. But the deeper truth of our faith is that gratitude runs even deeper. Gratitude is not just for what we have; it is for who God is. We give thanks for God’s sustaining grace, for the Spirit who carries us through the long nights, for the presence of Christ who walks beside us when the path is hard.

This kind of gratitude does not stay inside of us...it spills over. True thanksgiving is never just a word we say, but a life we live. It takes shape in service, in generosity, in advocacy, in showing up for one another and for our neighbors near and far. As a congregation, we see this gratitude spilling over all the time: in the care of children and youth, in the Clothes Closet, UBFM, and blessing bags, in welcoming refugees and immigrants, in gathering around the table to be fed and sent.

As we move through these months of fall - through Reformation, All Saints, the Pie Auction (of course!) and into the turning of the year - may we live with this deep gratitude: for beauty and for change, for joy and for challenge, for the God who sustains us in all of it. And may our gratitude flow outward, in service and love, until God’s kingdom of mercy and justice is made visible among us.

In Christ,

Rev. Minna Bothwell