Faith & Gratitude
This past summer at McLean Baptist Church we did a series of Sunday morning group studies titled ‘Kaleidoscope of Faith.’ I had the pleasure of presenting the last session of the series and the topic I chose was Faith & Gratitude. Some of the other sessions included Faith & Travel, Faith & Science, Faith & Storytelling and even Faith & Spies.
I began by giving this specific definition of what I mean by gratitude – the feeling you experience when you acknowledge having something that’s valuable to you and that came to you as a gift. Whatever it is, you did not get it through any kind of transaction and it’s not anything that you feel is owed to you.
The first slide in my presentation was the image at the top of this post. This is a picture my son took of me on the evening of 8/25/25 on the shore of Lake Anna at sunset. The view was particularly beautiful that evening and if you look closely, you can see the crescent moon that was setting behind the sun. As another person in our group moved closer to the water to get a different view I noticed his silhouette so I quickly gave my phone to my son and asked him to take a picture of me as I struck a pose at the water’s edge. Looking at this picture now I see myself in a posture of gratitude.
10 minutes of my presentation was showing this video, a Ted Talk from 14 years ago by Louie Schwartzberg on gratitude. It is filled with beautiful time lapse photography and is narrated by Brother David Steindl Rast. Here’s a quote from Louie – “Gratitude unlocks the beauty of life. It turns what we have into enough.” and here’s a quote from David – “It’s not happiness that makes us grateful, it’s gratefulness that makes us happy.”
I also took a few minutes to point out the connection between remembering and gratitude. At some point in your life, someone taught you the spiritual disciplines that you practice today. That person may have been a leader, a friend, a grandmother, a pastor, or someone who is no longer with us. We should never forget them and the influence they’ve had on us. In the midst of the pace of work, errands, new friendships, and personal challenges, it can be easy to forget our roots.
Remembering is a form of humility and gratitude. We honor the efforts of those who have invested in our lives when we live with purpose, when we seek to grow, when we share what we learned. Today, think about the person or persons who left an imprint on your spirit. Perhaps it is time to write to them, to pray for them, or simply to give thanks in silence. Their influence is still alive in you, and now you can be that voice for someone else.
P.S. World Gratitude Day will be celebrated on Sunday, 9/21/25
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
Tysons Interfaith is pleased to present a series of blog posts highlighting local non-profit organizations who are doing so much to help our neighbors. Please consider helping these groups with your time and resources. For a list of nonprofit organizations working in the Tysons area please visit: tysonsinterfaith.org/resources/
What is Share?
- Share Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. To see our IRS Form 990 annual financial reports, click here.
- Though we are not religiously affiliated, we were established in 1969 by a coalition of local faith communities to help meet the emergency needs of our neighbors in McLean and the nearby areas of Northern Virginia.
- We are an all-volunteer organization with no paid staff, no office, and no paid fundraisers, therefore, nearly all donations directly benefit our neighbors in need.
- Share assistance includes a food pantry, clothing room, furniture program and family assistance program.
- We are supported by generous donations from local religious congregations, community organizations, neighborhood businesses and individuals. Our food and clothing rooms are housed is space donated by McLean Baptist Church.
- It currently takes more than 1000 volunteer hours per month to run our programs, so we are always recruiting new volunteers.
The Neighbors We Serve
- Our neighbors in need are economically distressed families and individuals, seniors living on limited incomes (often facing medical issues), new immigrants and victims of spousal abuse, as well as the homeless.
- The neighbors we serve are referred to us from participating faith communities, county social services, and a number of non-profit groups serving special need groups (such as victims of spousal abuse or the formerly homeless).
- Before being granted services, these neighbors are screened to ensure they fall within our service area and have an appropriate level of need.
- We serve the working poor, disabled persons, the homeless, recent immigrants and the elderly as well as those facing a crisis such as illness, job loss or other family emergency.
- Last year, we provided services to over 2,000 families including 4,500 household members, most of whom are children.
For information on how to volunteer or donate to Share of McLean, please visit shareofmclean.org
Most Needed Items
June 2023
FOOD:
Pasta (spaghetti, elbow, penne)
Canned tomatoes (diced, sauce)
Pasta sauce (cans or plastic jars)
Canned chicken
Peanut Butter (16 oz)
Canned fruit (fruit cocktail, peaches)
Canned corn
Canned beans (chickpea, pinto, kidney)
Vegetable oil (plastic jars: 24 oz, 48 oz)
PERSONAL CARE ITEMS:
Diapers (Sizes 5-7) and pull-ups (4T, 5T)
Adult diapers (all sizes, both genders)
Toilet paper / paper towels
Shampoo / Conditioner
Laundry detergent (20 – 40 loads)
Baby wipes
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Please remember: NO GLASS, NO OVER-SIZED items, and no items past their “Best if Used By/Before” date.
Share would welcome re-usable grocery size bags, paper shopping bags with intact handles, and plastic grocery bags (used but intact).
Note: Share can accept refrigerated and frozen goods such as chicken, fresh produce, yogurt, cheeses, and eggs but only by prior arrangement (contact: sharevolunteers1367@gmail.com).
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
The following blog post is the expressed opinion of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
On a road trip to the American South we recently saw the grave marker of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, which sits in a large pool of water next to the church where he (and his father before him) preached in Atlanta. Particularly powerful was a mural with his six principles of nonviolence, which in his view led to the “beloved community,” which is also described. One particularly powerful principle is #3, which says, “nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice not people.” We also thought the description of the beloved community is similar to what the interfaith movement seeks to achieve, where different faiths can cooperate to work toward common goals for “worldwide elimination of poverty and hunger and all forms of bigotry and violence.”
Picture of the Dexter Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery, where Dr. King preached from 1954-1960, and where the Montgomery bus boycott was organized in 1955.