Celebrations: Messages of faith

As we start the holidays with turkey and thanksgiving, Sonoma County faith leaders have their eyes on loftier goals — fasting and reflection, peace and joy, paying it forward and discovering the happiness that comes from reaching out to others in need.|

As we start the holidays with turkey and thanksgiving, Sonoma County faith leaders have their eyes on loftier goals — fasting and reflection, peace and joy, paying it forward and discovering the happiness that comes from reaching out to others in need. They recommend expressing gratitude for what's working in our lives rather than coveting what others have, remembering that we are all brothers and sisters, and postponing until Friday the requisite shopping.

We asked 11 hand-picked religious leaders to share their thoughts. Here's what they had to say.

Lawrence Margitich, St. Seraphim of Sarov, Santa Rosa

For Eastern Orthodox Christians, Thanksgiving also coincides with the holiest time of year known as Advent or Winter Lent, a 40-day period from Nov. 15 until Christmas reserved for fasting and reflection.

'The time of Advent is a time of gratitude to God for all the blessings we know and all the blessings we don't know and for the existence of everything,' said the Rev. Father Lawrence Margitich of St. Seraphim of Sarov in Santa Rosa. 'Humans are at our best when we are giving thanks to God.'

During this time of year, many Orthodox Christians celebrate Thanksgiving with family but then continue to fast through Christmas, he said.

'Thanksgiving isn't about food, although we celebrate with food,' he said. 'Orthodox spend a lot of time fasting, but we also know how to feast.'

Margitich said people should not lose track of the spirit of the season, which includes coming together with family and friends and helping those less fortunate. It is especially important to remain pious this time of year when holiday shopping and consumerism are rampant.

'If we want to be humans who live with Thanksgiving, we have to learn to not put ourselves first, to not be consumers first,' he said. 'On our journey, we have to travel lightly or else we will get weighed down, and we won't make any progress.'

— Matt Brown

Gene Nelson, Sebastopol Community Church

Sebastopol Community Church Pastor Gene Nelson knows all too well that life can be hard, whether one is experiencing loss and grief, confronting the world's challenges or just juggling the burdens of daily obligation.

But Thanksgiving, he said, creates an opportunity to take a momentary break from the daily grind, step back and contemplate the gift that is life.

'It helps us — at least it helps me — realize life can be good without being perfect,' Nelson said. 'There are pains and disappointments, but amid that there's always an undercurrent of blessing and thanks.'

Nelson said he sometimes finds himself considering the future of the planet and feeling the tug of despair. Or he worries about church finances, or just looks at his schedule and feels like 'my life looks like my calendars,' crammed and chaotic.

Thanksgiving is an antidote to the discouragement humans can feel, and Christmas an affirmation of the future's promise, he said.

'I often say, 'I really need a Thanksgiving' to remember life is still good, life is still a gift,' Nelson said. 'What a blessing to have been invited to this banquet. It's a free ticket.'

— Mary Callahan

Chris Breuninger, Redwood Covenant Church, Santa Rosa

Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the giving season at Santa Rosa's Redwood Covenant Church, and the Rev. Chris Breuninger is urging his congregation to deepen their gratitude for what they have been given and reach out to others in need.

'Thanksgiving is about recognizing what we have already been given,' Breuninger said. 'We can appreciate those gifts through the traditional Thanksgiving meal around the table, but another way I would say it is to avoid Black Friday sales.'

His church, with about 1,800 members, gears up for a massive food drive that begins on Thanksgiving, hoping to fill grocery bags for about 800 families during the holiday season. It also gives away Christmas trees and gifts for kids on Dec. 13.

This year, Redwood Covenant has partnered with Redwood Gospel Mission's one-night 'nomadic shelter' program and, on Dec. 8, will provide a warm place for the homeless to sleep.

'We want to be a positive presence in the neighborhood,' Breuninger said.

— Angela Hart

Ray Henderson, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Santa Rosa

'Thanksgiving is a wonderful time for us to reflect on the blessings that God has given to us. A grateful heart is a happy heart,' says Ray Henderson, president of the Santa Rosa Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Gratitude, he said, comes when we realize the great blessing of having a Savior and 'the implications of that truth for own lives and lives of families and our friends.'

From there springs a realization of God's blessings in the form of health or employment or shelter, 'many of those things that we might take for granted in our hectic world.'

Henderson said we should not forget that we are all brothers and sisters, children of the same God, 'regardless of political and ideological differences, religious persuasion, place in society or economic realities.'

The holidays also can be a tough time of year for many people, especially those who struggle with depression, don't have a home or are single parents.

'It's easy to forget that many people have challenges they fight. I call it the lonely foxholes of the heart,' Henderson said.

'It's important for us to be on the lookout and watch for opportunities to lift and help others, and to smile. Do those simple things that might brighten someone's day.'

— Clark Mason

H. Lee Turner, Community Baptist Church, Santa Rosa

Rev. H. Lee Turner, pastor of the Community Baptist Church in Santa Rosa, likes to think of Thanksgiving as a day we are given each year to remember the reasons we are thankful, regardless of the situations we face.

He would most like people to celebrate family and the connections to others in their social sphere, including both the people who add to our lives or and those who try to take away.

Sometimes, those adversaries are necessary to help us grow, he said.

'A lot of times, we forget that. We want everything to be nice, neat and comfortable. Sometimes it takes obstacles to overcome a challenge, to exceed,' Turner said. They can make us stronger and more thankful.

In Turner's church, 'we never lose track (that) God is always there,' he said, fighting isolation with the knowledge that we are not alone.

'Know you can always reach out to someone — a close friend, a family member, a confidante, someone who can help you to refocus.'

— Clark Mason

Billy Andre, The Bridge, Santa Rosa

The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy, but people also can feel overwhelmed this time of the year, said the Rev. Billy Andre, pastor of The Bridge in Santa Rosa.

That's why Andre has chosen 'Overwhelmed' as the church's theme this season. His goal is for people to feel overwhelmed by God's grace.

Andre said the idea is to focus 'on the peace and the joy, and the love that God gives us, and to reflect that to others during the holiday season.'

Andre laments the tendency for that message to get lost this time of year.

'The day after Halloween, I was in a department store and I heard Christmas music,' he said. 'I feel like our culture leans toward the commercialization of Christmas and the materialistic side.'

He prefers to focus 'on the Lord and what He's doing for us.'

At The Bridge, which meets on Sunday mornings at the Santa Rosa Alliance Church, 'We want to build a bridge with our community and love people, and help meet their needs.'

— Derek Moore

Carlos Zapata, Santa Rosa Bible Church

Thanksgiving is not just about piling roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and other fixings on onto our special dishes. Rather, it's a time to reflect on faith and connect with God, said the Rev. Carlos Zapata, the Hispanic ministry pastor at Santa Rosa Bible Church.

He points to the story of the Pilgrims, who fled England to pursue religious freedom and feasted as a way to thank God for a successful harvest. Zapata urges people to follow that example and give thanks for their blessings.

'We separated that day to be grateful to God,' said Zapata. 'There's so much to be thankful (for). He has given us salvation through Jesus Christ, but also provides for our daily needs.'

Zapata's congregation is showing their gratitude and devotion by collecting food for needy families and gathering Christmas gifts for children of prison inmates through the Angel Tree program.

They also are helping the Redwood Gospel Mission serve meals during its Thanksgiving banquet at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.

— Eloisa Ruano Gonzalez

Glo Wellman, Christ Church United Methodist, Santa Rosa

Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful for the good things in life, but also to also reach out and help others, said the Rev. Glo Wellman, pastor of the 75-member congregation at Christ Church United Methodist in Santa Rosa.

'For us, it's a time we remember our brothers and sisters who are less fortunate,' she said, a message will deliver to her congregation.

'God has given us many blessings,? Wellman said, 'and we are called as God's people to pay it forward, to be God's hands and heart in the world.'

Many in her congregation do that throughout the year, volunteering at the church's food pantry and large garden, she said. 'We have a lot of people for whom social justice issues are really important.'

She encourages people to look beyond their immediate families during the holidays.

'Our family extends beyond our homes to others,' Wellman said.

To that end, her congregation celebrated a joint worship service last Sunday with Congregation Shomrei Torah, which shared their facility for many years before Shomrei Torah built its own synagogue on Bennett Valley Road.

'We're all brothers and sisters, no matter what our religious beliefs,' Wellman said.

— Jamie Hansen

Rabbi George Gittleman, Congregation Shomrei Torah, Santa Rosa

Gratitude is the basis for happiness, said Rabbi George Gittleman of Congregation Shomrei Torah in Santa Rosa. If you can get up in the morning and acknowledge what's working in your life, you have a better chance of being happy, he said.

'You'll never be happy if you always want what other people have,' Gittleman said.

The Thanksgiving holiday also is an opportunity to take stock of the people we love and the relationships that enrich our lives.

'It is precisely in relationships that we find our self worth and happiness,' Gittleman said. 'Even if there's something lacking in your life, you can lift yourself up from a sad place by focusing on what's working.' People who live in Sonoma County have many things to be thankful for, including the 'bounty' of its natural beauty and accessibility, he said. North Coast residents also should be thankful for their access to natural and organic food, whether it's produce, beef, chicken or seafood.

Personally, Gittleman said, at this time of year he feels gratitude for being an American citizen.

'I love our country, even with all the problems,' he said. Thanksgiving, a truly American holiday, is a time to acknowledge that.

— Martin Espinoza

Chris Bell, Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Santa Rosa

Thanksgiving is a special day, but that specialness should spill over to every other day, said the Rev. Chris Bell of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Santa Rosa.

It is 'not meant to be the exception to the rule, or a rare treat,' he said. 'The blessings of family and the table, and slowing down and giving thanks, are there all the time.

'And please, don't shop on Thanksgiving,' he added.

For his congregation's Thanksgiving service, held last Sunday, the focus was an e.e. cummings poem called ''i thank You God for most this amazing.'

The first stanza of the popular poem, which cummings penned in his unique punctuation style, goes like this:

'i thank You God for most this amazingday: for the leaping greenly spirits of treesand a blue true dream of sky; and for everythingwhich is natural which is infinite which is yes.'

Bell said his congregation looks forward to helping the Redwood Gospel Mission with sheltering the homeless during the cold winter months.

'That's rooted, ultimately, in our gratitude for our own homes, and the fact we can help people this year.'

— Derek Moore

Father Gary Lombardi, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Petaluma

The Rev. Gary Lombardi of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Petaluma uses the familiar Thanksgiving sermon from the Gospel of Jesus, about the healing of the 10 lepers.

In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus is traveling between Samaria and Galilee on his way to Jerusalem when he encounters a group of 10 lepers. From a distance, they call out to him and ask for pity. Jesus healed all 10, but only one, a foreigner, threw himself at Jesus' feet and gave thanks.

The parable speaks to the healing power of faith and a lesson in gratitude. Lombardi uses the sermon to remind Catholic parishioners of what 'we've been given.'

'During Thanksgiving, we stop to realize that what we have is a gift,' he said.

Lombardi doesn't tell his parishioners what specifically they should be thankful for, rather that each of them should know exactly what that is.

During the Thanksgiving service, the congregation takes up a collection for Petaluma's Committee on the Shelterless, he said. They also take one for the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which provides daily meals to the needy at its Santa Rosa dining room site and will also do a special Thanksgiving meal today.

— Martin Espinoza

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