As we gather with family and friends, please hold these things in prayer-
1.Those who are alone without anyone to share the holiday with. Give thanks for
places like the East Side Soup Kitchen and for those who choose to spend part of
their giving thanks with people they may not even know.
2. For those whose
thanksgiving meal does not consist of the abundance many of our tables will
present. 3. For those of whom this Thanksgiving memory is not one of joy but a
day of mourning--the native people whom inhabited this land before Europeans
came and took the land by force.
It is important to remember the true
history--as one member of the congregation told me, history is taught so we
don't repeat it. I would add we have to teach the true history for that to
happen. 
I am saddened greatly as I recall my learning of history as a child. I
grew up in Nebraska, so the movement west was a central part of our Nebraska
history. Although we discussed the native people, they were depicted as savage
and murderers; whereas the European settlers were depicted as peaceful,
cooperative, generous. It didn't even cross my mind that as settlers claimed
their land, others were displaced, often by force. I have to wonder if we
realize that we are part of history that continues to repeat itself around the
world.
I would encourage you to spend some of your holiday researching the
truth. And with thanksgiving, let's give thanks for all perspectives, for all
people, that together we will live in unity with our diversity recognized as a
gift.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-american-indian/2022/11/23/thanksgiving-from-an-indigenous-perspective/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/11/22/thanksgiving-story-native-american-
history/71563811007/
https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=thanksgiving+from+an+indigenous+perspective&mid=704730C4D2363576FC47704730C4D2363576FC47&FORM=VIRE
