THEOLOGICAL CLUE

The liturgical clue comes from the secular calendar rather than the church year - with an assist from the liturgy itself, which celebrates the death and resurrection of our Lord as Eucharist, or thanksgiving. The occasion often falls between the last two Sundays of the Pentecost cycle/season, since it comes on the fourth Thursday of November annually. The Eucharist celebrates the gift of redemption and eternal life through Jesus Christ; thanksgiving celebrates God's gifts in the goodness of creation. Thanksgiving, therefore, calls forpreaching to function as a creation eucharist, which might properly be followed in the worship service with the actual Eucharist. Thanksgiving, from this perspective, calls for a kind of eucharist in "two kinds" - not just bread and wine, but…