The Presbyterian Outlook - Thanksgiving prayers and family systems 🦃

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News & Stories Dear Outlook readers,  I have a confession to make: I love the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I love the pageantry. I love the cheesiness. I love the fall outerwear. And yes, I sometimes cry when I see the high school bands and think about how hard they worked to be there. All I want on Thanksgiving morning is a cup of coffee, a slice of pumpkin roll and the parade. The critical thinking side of my brain is aware that the parade is, as Ross Gay succinctly wrote, a “miserable advertisement for global corporate dominion.” I know it supports consumerism and a capitalistic system where the poor are abused and overlooked. I know that. But the soft creature of my heart just wants to enjoy the spectacle. While I know this is a privilege, I think it's okay to tend to this side of myself, too. One of the reasons I love Ross Gay's writing is that he allows space for contradictions to exist while still calling for action. We live in a world where the prison-industrial complex and a guinea pig named Oreo Speedwagon exist at the same time, where your neighbor will lobby to ban books from the local library and check on you after a car accident.  We all contain multitudes, and we all deserve to be loved. There's space for all of us at the table. That's what I'm going to hold on to as I start my day with coffee and the parade. Happy Thanksgiving, Rose Schrott Taylor Outlook digital content editor

A Thanksgiving mealtime prayer inspired by Psalm 104 by Amanda Horan On Thanksgiving and Advent by Amy Kim Kyremes-Parks Creativity births spiritual community by Maggie Alsup Family systems theory for church leaders by David Lee Jones In case you missed it... “Thankful Turkeys” and Reign of Christ Sunday How can we grasp gratitude when it feels far away, wonders Aaron Neff? Beautiful and Terrible Things: Faith, Doubt, and Discovering a Way Back to Each Other "Amy Butler invites readers to imagine a creative 'new way of being a church in the world,' one requiring an 'open-minded and open-hearted redirection of resources ...'" — Aram Feinberg Thanksgiving as a call to moral community James Calvin Davis explores the wisdom that Christian tradition brings to American Thanksgiving, as well as the ways in this holiday might prompt us to discern the imperatives of our faith in new ways.  Liturgical arts: do they serve as a source of worship beyond the church walls? Nadine Ellsworth-Moran, de’Angelo Dia and Smith Podris speak about how to engage liturgical arts in public spaces. "Creator of the Stars of Night: An Advent Candle Liturgy" by Carol Holbrook Prickett  FREE for a limited time. Click to download.