On Sunday, November 16, my group and I worshipped at the Anglican Cathedral of the Redeemer, the bishop’s seat for the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church in Madrid. Bishop Carlos Lozano invited me to join the worship party, and while we were in the clergy vesting room, he kept peeking out the door to see if any children had arrived. I wondered, Why does he keep checking? Once the service started, I realized he had been looking for a family to light the Advent wreath! But in mi

Above is a photo from our Thanksgiving Basket Drive last Sunday. Margie Polishuk, our drive organizer, expressed her gratitude for all of you: “Thank you for the generosity of St. Bartholomew’s again this year. We supplied 101 Thanksgiving baskets with turkeys and pies to the families in transitional housing in Escondido. The families were so excited and happy to get these meals!” The goal was 100 baskets, and I love that we topped the goal with 101! Now, we turn to Advent an

Next week, we will celebrate Thanksgiving, a season in which we take extra time to think about what it is we are grateful for. And as Christians, we especially acknowledge that everything we have—our families, our friends, the food we eat, the houses we live in—is a gift from God, our generous and bountiful Creator. And so we practice gratitude. One thing I have always found paradoxical about gratitude, however, is how it points us toward generosity. When we recognize that e