wfn.org | News Release: Moderator's Thanksgiving Reflection

["Broadhurst, Tom" <tbroadhu@united-church.ca>]

For Immediate Release -- Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Giving Thanks for Abundance When Faced with Scarcity

Toronto: Thanksgiving is the time of year when we give  thanks for
abundance-but it is also a time to remember that "if  we believe in the
abundance of what appears to be scarce, we create condi tions that help
generate abundance."

That is the message delivered in a Thanksgiving reflectio n posted on The
United Church of Canada's website by the church's newly  elected
Moderator, Mardi Tindal.

Tindal introduces the idea of recognizing how abundance c an be found in
community by telling the story of her own congregation's  experience
providing a Sunday night supper for anyone who needed i t all winter
long.

"As many Canadians gather this weekend with family and  friends to
celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope the concept of recognizing  'apparent
scarcity' and 'unexpected abundance' offers a powerful mess age of hope
in a society that often tends to see what is not th ere, rather than what
is there, and what might be," says Tindal.

Tindal says her message is an invitation to imagine wha t it would mean
to trust in the supply of whatever seems scarce in ou r lives today. It
is an invitation to courage.

"When we act as if we believe in the abundance of w hat appears to be
scarce, we create conditions that help generate abundance.  When we do
this in community, the power that arises from our commo n action is
almost unbelievable," writes Tindal.

The Moderator's Thanksgiving reflection can be found at
www.united-church.ca. Newspaper editors are welcome to publis h the
reflection in its entirety as a Thanksgiving feature comm entary.

>For more information, please contact:

Mary-Frances Denis

Program Coordinator, Media and Public Relations
The United Church of Canada
416-231-7680 ext. 2016 (office)
1-800-268-3781 ext. 2016 (toll-free)
mdenis@united-church.ca

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