• Who We Are
    • Who We Are
    • Mission
    • History
    • General Synod
    • Leadership and Ministry
    • Staff
    • United Church of Christ Board
  • What We Believe
    • What We Believe
    • Worship Ways
    • Daily Devotional
  • What We Do
    • What We Do
    • Office of the General Minister & President
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
  • News
  • Church Finder
  • Donate Now
  • Search
UCC Logo United Church of Christ
  • Church Finder
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Store
  • Frontline Faith Portal
  • Donate Now
  • Search
  • Who We Are
    • Column
      • About
        • Mission
        • Constitution and Bylaws
        • History
          • UCC Archives
        • UCC Brand Guidelines
        • General Synod
          • Synod 33 Worship Videos
          • Past General Synods
        • Abuse Prevention
    • Column
      • Structure
        • Conferences
        • Affiliated Ministries
          • The Pension Boards
          • Cornerstone Fund
          • Insurance Board
          • The Council for Health and Human Services Ministries
          • Church Building & Loan Fund
          • Convergence
    • Column
      • Team
        • Elected Officers
        • Staff
        • United Church of Christ Board
          • Board Minutes
        • Office of General Counsel
        • UCCOSSN
    • Column
      • Career Opportunities
      • Annual Reports
  • What We Believe
    • Column
      • Worship
        • Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ – La Declaración de Fe de la Iglesia Unida de Cristo
        • Worship Ways
        • Daily Devotional
        • Sermon Seeds
  • How We Serve
    • Column
      • Office of the General Minister & President
        • Welcome to Human Resources
          • Employee Relations Resources
        • Center for Analytics, Research & Development and Data (CARDD)
          • General CARDD FAQs
          • About The Center for Analytics, Research & Development, and Data (CARDD)
          • Authorized Minister Opt Out
          • Access UCC
          • Archived Reports
          • Assessment Resources
          • Information Policies and Requests
          • Faith Communities Today (FACT) Survey
          • MissionInsite
          • Statistics and Reports
          • Vital Signs and Statistics Blog
          • Data Hub FAQs
          • Data Hub
          • Yearbook and Directory
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Justice
          • Faithful Action Ministries
            • Environmental Justice Ministries
            • Economic Justice
            • Racial Justice
          • Office of Public Policy & Advocacy in Washington D.C.
            • Justice and Peace Action Network
            • Our Faith Our Vote
            • Justice Training Resources
            • Action Center
          • Health and Wholeness Advocacy
            • Disabilities and Mental Health Justice
            • Encuentros Latinx
            • UCC HIV & AIDS Network-UCAN
            • LGBTQ Ministries
            • Our Whole Lives
            • Overdose and Drug Use Ministries
            • Scouting
            • Wellness Ministries
          • The Pilgrim Press & Stillspeaking Publications
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Local Church
          • The Faith Education, Innovation and Formation (Faith INFO)Team
            • Weekly Seeds
            • Youth & Young Adults
          • Worship Resources
            • Worship Ways
            • Sermon Seeds
            • Synod 33 Worship Videos
            • Music and Liturgical Arts
          • Stewardship & Generosity Resources
          • Ministerial Excellence, Support & Authorization (MESA)
            • History, Polity, and Theology
            • Search and Call
            • Ministerial Profiles
            • Ministry Opportunities
            • Manual on Ministry
    • Column
      • Wider Church Ministries
        • Global Ministries
        • Global H.O.P.E.
          • Volunteer Ministries
          • Refugee and Migration Ministries
          • Disaster Ministries
          • Recovering Hope
        • Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations
  • Resources
  • News
    • Column
      • News
        • United Church of Christ News
    • Column
      • Columns
        • Witness for Justice
        • Into the Mystic
        • Getting to the Root of It
        • The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog
        • UCC Roots
        • Encounters at the Well
        • Reflexiones
    • Column
      • Upcoming Events
        • Webinars
      • Subscriptions at the United Church of Christ
      • Changes & Deaths
  • Giving
    • Column
      • Donate Now
      • Ways to Give
        • Giving Tuesday
        • General Synod 2021 Thursday in Black Offering
        • General Synod 2021 Racial Justice Offering
        • Disaster Ministries: How to Give
        • Our Church’s Wider Mission
          • Our Church’s Wider Mission Basic Support
          • Strengthen the Church
          • One Great Hour of Sharing
          • Neighbors in Need
          • Christmas Fund
          • 5 for 5
    • Column
      • Ways We Give
        • Scholarships & Grants

  • Home
  • News
  • Column
  • Into the Mystic
  • Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

by John Dorhauer | published on Nov 21, 2022

Listen to the podcast

Read the transcript

I want to offer something I frequently pause to do as Thanksgiving arrives: my top ten list of things I am thankful for.

10. Dear friends I can rely on to help me find my joy and to be there in good times and bad, friends new and old: for Jess and Raven, Mindy and Jeff, Jenny and Scott, Chad and Darrell, Don and Kent and Jim, Alice and Cameron, and so many more I cannot fully list.

9. For a Senior Staff who has helped me make hard, and sometimes painful, decisions but who always show up with good ideas, trusted counsel, positive energy, and professional experience: Traci, Karen Georgia, Heather, Alisa, Tami, and Cheryl.

8. For a United Church of Christ that continues to show up for justice, continues to manifest and embody love as an antidote to fear, continues to work to build a just world for all, and continues to act in a way that no matter who you are or where you are you are welcome here.

7. For the staff of the National Setting, who showed up every day during the pandemic and worked through horrible circumstances to craft a way where there was no way.

6. For a new office building that was years in the discerning process, and long hard months in the planning stages; that took every ounce of creative insight and energy from teams of people with imagination, spunk, grit, and determination to build; and which today is a state of the art, 21st century workspace conducive to collaborative working and creative thinking.

5. For the Council of Conference Ministers, who have led with honor and distinction through these last few years, who stood side by side with clergy who were growing tired and frustrated through this season of trauma and grief, and who are learning every day how to do more with less.

4. For clergy and chaplains whose courage and innovation, whose stamina and love for the church and those whom they serve strengthened  their resolve and saw them through these last three years and who continue to lead and love and learn in order to honor their call and serve well.

3.  For an aging body that, even with its new aches and pains, can ride a bike and walk a golf course and hike mountain trails and wrestle with grandkids and hold the hand of my beloved.

2. For a job I love that lets me work with people I love. For the trips I get to take while serving in this position and the people I get to meet on those trips. For the many times it affords me opportunities to bear witness to the difference that committed love makes in the world by disciples who believe Jesus just wants us to accept each other and love each other and care for each other.

  1. For my family. For two of the most beautiful children in the world, Jacob and Elizabeth who, every time I am with them, make the anxieties and the stress and the worries of the world disappear. For Adam, the child who still lives with us and who brings art and beauty into the world everywhere he goes. For CJ and Molly, who live all alone with each other on a distant shore but who remind us every day how much it matters to find someone you adore to live with. For John and Kelley and the beautiful children they parent with such love and grace, for the joy they bring to the world by making music, and for the partnership they have forged with each other. And finally for Mimi, the woman I fell in love with 39 years ago and remain steadfastly in love with to this day.

May we all take an accounting of our lives and give thanks for all that God has given on this, our journey Into the Mystic.


Content on ucc.org is copyrighted by the National Setting of the United Church of Christ and may be only shared according to the guidelines outlined here.

Categories: Column Into the Mystic

Sign Up For Our Newsletter








Privacy Policy






Related News

Witness for Justice
Witness for Justice

Cause for Alarm

In my social media feed, there’s a funny video of an emu overreacting to a loud noise by...

Read More
The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog

Solidarity and Support for East Palestine: Three Actions to Embody Love

On February 3rd, the small town of East Palestine, Ohio suffered from a toxic train derailment...

Read More
Talitha Koum
Talitha Koum - The UCC Women's Newsletter

Welcome to Talitha Koum: The UCC Newsletter for Women, Girls and Their Allies

Welcome! I am so grateful that you have decided to connect with UCC women and allies through...

Read More
  • Column
    • Local Church and Conference Resource Directory
    • Mission
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
    • General Synod Resolutions
  • Column
    • Contact
    • News
    • Store

Content on ucc.org is copyrighted by the National Setting of the United Church of Christ and may be only shared according to the guidelines outlined here.

1300 E. 9th Street, Suite 1100
Cleveland, Ohio 44114

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Subscribe on YouTube

Donate Now


UCC Crest
© United Church of Christ 2023. Privacy Policy.
Crafted by Cornershop Creative