As Thanksgiving is just around the corner, it may be difficult this year.  Perhaps we are still figuring out our plans.  Perhaps we have resigned ourselves that our plans simply can’t be what we want them to be.  Perhaps we’re avoiding contemplating the whole thing entirely. 

There were a few things I heard this week while watching and reading various news sources that made me think about Thanksgiving. 

The first was that Canada saw a spike in Covid-19 cases after observing Thanksgiving in October.  (Sometimes we may forget that Canadians have Thanksgiving too, on the second Monday in October.) 

The second was that the State of Connecticut has issued guidelines for Thanksgiving, asking that celebrations be limited to 10 people or less. 

The third was a reporter asking Dr. Fauci about how he will celebrate Thanksgiving.  Dr. Fauci spoke about not getting together with his three daughters and their families because they live in other parts of the country.  He said that he would love for his family to come home to Washington D.C. for Thanksgiving, but it was his daughters who pointed out that their father is 79 years-old and they didn’t want to put him at risk.  So they will send their love to their parents over Zoom instead. 

In the end, none of us have celebrated Thanksgiving during a global pandemic like this one before.  We will probably have these conversations with our loved ones (if we haven’t already.)  For some reason, the news this week made me feel better that Dr. Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, was also having conversations about Thanksgiving plans with his family. 

We’re all facing the same reality.  Though we all have various levels of risk tolerance and vulnerabilities to this virus.  We also have to take our mental health into account as well as our physical health.  And we’re grieving that some dinner tables will have empty chairs this year because of Covid-19.  It’s just a lot to think about as we head into the holiday season.  While I don’t have all the answers and wish that I could make this easier for our church family, please just know that you are not alone and God is with us all. 

Love,
Pastor Lauren 

This Week’s Thoughts 11.12.20