Thanksgiving now resides in our short term memories.  Americans celebrate that day with family, feasting, and football.  Now, we're back to work. What lies before us is a month long season of buying and wrapping and listening to Christmas music until we can hardly stand it.  December 26th can't come soon enough.  And that is no way to enter the season of Advent.  What Christ the King Sunday announces, Advent will accommodate.  The Shalom promised in the Reign of Christ will come to the people of earth as a baby,  But first, there will be signs and warnings and angels.  There will be anxious wonder and fearful plotting and bewildered shepherds.  God has ordained a season of patience as we watch for the coming of our salvation.  Advent provides us time to remember and prepare.  It sneaks onto history's calendar and seeps ever so slowly into our hearts.  It is for the Church to demonstrate its faith to the world.  God's time is always gracious.  God's promises are always kept.  God's salvation will come.  And for a while, we wait.

This year Thanksgiving brings an extra bit of joy to the Henry family.  Jack Callum VanVlerah came to us November 11.  As I sit across from him this Tuesday morning before Thanksgiving he's sleeping.  I'm trying to remember when his mother was only ten day old.  I can't do it.  My memories of when Sarah was only days old are lost somewhere in my mind.  Same with our two sons.  Those very first days of their living aren't easily brought to mind.  However, in those days and in every one since, they brought joy and grace to their family.  Jack is continuing that giving to his family.  Grandparents and aunts and uncles are making room in their hearts for this new gift.  Our various Thanksgiving tables will have one more life for which to give thanks.  Welcome to the family, Jack Callum VanVlerah.  May all your Thanksgivings be memorable.  Even if you'll have to be told about the earliest ones by your folks and your grandpa.

Sunday’s worship service was blessed with seven of our Calvary Veterans receiving blankets made by our Purple Hearts women.  The blankets were of patriotic colors and blessed with prayer after they were made.  This blanket ministry has become a mission at Calvary.  A couple dozen women and benefactors make it possible for these warm blankets to be given to an assortment of people; those recovering from surgery or illness; those who are mourning the loss of a family member; those who are home bound or in nursing homes.  I am blessed with the privilege of being able to present many of them.  I'm expected to keep one in my car for "emergencies."  Just in case I see someone who needs one.  In this, I am your ambassador.  And with the blankets, we spread a message of love and comfort and compassion and thanksgiving across our community.  I can think of no more gracious way to be known, for that sums up the Gospel in a nutshell. 

Armistice Day marks the end of World War I.   At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month in the year 1918 a grisly war came to an end.  This 11th of November will mark its 99th anniversary.  Today the United States marks the end of WWI noting it Veterans Day.  My Great Uncle Raymond N. Crull fought in the War To End All Wars.  He gave me his dog tags and his Victory Medal one summer before I was graduated from high school.  I also have his shaving kit, his spats, and a field typewriter he picked up off the battle field.  Little did I know of his war record.  His dog tag number was 36003.  He was among the very first of the over 4 million US service men who served. WW I was a nightmare of a war.  The Battle of Verdun began February 21, 1916 and raged for 303 days until December 18^th.  It's estimated there were over 97,000 casualties each month in that battle; killed, wounded, missing.  The Battle of the Somme began on the 1st of July that same year and finally came to an end 141 days later, on the 18th of November.  The British Army suffered 57,470 casualties the very first day.  The artillery barrage, which was supposed to soften up the Germans, was so loud, it was heard across the English Channel that morning before dawn.  Over all there were approximately 39 million killed, wounded, or missing in the war.  It is thought there were more that 68 million combatants.  We remember the sacrifices of those who served and those who suffered death or wounds or whose fate remains unknown.  It is a solemn thing for the living to remember and to honor our veterans.  Having my uncle's dog tags, I will wear them every day during this 99th year.  I will do it to remember him and his comrades.  Thank you for your service Uncle Raymond.  And Rest In Peace.

Today, November 1st, is All Saints' Day in the Church.  It is the day the Christian family of faithful members celebrates the lives and the witness of her saints.  The whole of the Church of Jesus Christ recognizes this day as a feast day of extraordinary importance.  There are well known saints, of course.  Saints Matthew and Mark and the Apostles (but not Judas).  Jesus' parents Saint's Joseph and Mary stand along countless others whose lives were, and still are, examples of devotion to God's Son and His Kingdom.  While there are official procedures for "making" saints across the Christian community, we need not rely only on the official list of saints as being exhaustive.  This Sunday we will name and remember our saints; those of our loved ones who have died and now rest in peace with Jesus.  We will light candles, a bell will toll, and our hearts will pause.  A flicker of light will draw our eyes to something more precious than words can describe.  The gift each of our departed saints has been to us will be honored.  While their earthly form will not be in our midst, their presence will not have departed from us.  In their baptism they live as surely as do we who breathe.  Their status as saints of the Church isn't a reward for good living.  It isn't a consequence of merit of any kind.  They join the angels and arch angels and the entire Host of Heaven singing praises to God at the Throne of Grace.  This we remember.  This we claim to be true.  This we await one day for ourselves.  Praise be to God: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.