Giving Thanks

The COVID shutdowns in March interrupted most everything we knew as normal. The government shut down the economy and started handing out money directly to people instead. We can be thankful for that!

The Seekers had a workshop scheduled for April 1st where the congregation was invited to hear the story of Lisa Salazar, a Transgender woman and Pastoral Leader. This workshop was also cancelled but now with our new Virtual Worship service format, we are able to invite Lisa to speak with us as the speaker in our “Who is Our Neighbor?” sermon series. For this we can be very thankful indeed.

Lisa will be speaking on Thanksgiving Sunday. Lisa wrote a book about her journey called “Transparently: Behind the Scenes of a Good Life”.

In this time of disruption and upheaval due to the COVID pandemic where for some of us, all that we knew feels like it has been turned upside down, we are invited to hear the story of someone who’s life was indeed turned upside down. Where the events of the past few months have been imposed upon us, those people undertaking the journey of transitioning from their biological sex to their preferred gender identity have to decide when the right moment is to turn their world on its head.

During the COVID shutdowns, we were not allowed to visit with our friends and family. We couldn’t go to church, we had to hide our faces behind masks when stepping outside.

The coming out experience of members of the LGBTQ2S community often results in being shut out of the houses of friends and family, of no longer being welcome to attend church, of having to hide behind metaphoric masks in order to step outside.

We are so grateful to be able to hear Lisa’s story on Thanksgiving Sunday. The title of her book is inspiring as she describes a “Good Life”. Let us share her story and learn to be thankful for all the ways we also have a good life.