Hope in Hard Times – St. Nick’s News Oct. 11, 2025

Full St. Nick’s News for October 11, 2025

Dear Friends,

Over the past few weeks, the topic of worry and hopelessness has come up a lot—in conversations after worship, in prayer requests, over coffee/tea and around dinner tables. Many of us are feeling it. The world feels heavy and fast, and it’s hard to catch our breath.

I wonder what helps you stay grounded in God? What helps you to loosen the grip of hopelessness and turn back to God?

This Sunday’s Gospel might offer us a way. As Jesus travels through the region between Galilee and Samaria, he meets ten lepers who cry out for mercy. They are healed as they go, but only one—a Samaritan—turns back, falls at Jesus’ feet, and gives thanks.

That act of turning back isn’t just about good manners—it’s about emotional and spiritual healing. Gratitude slows us down. It roots us in the present moment and reminds us that even in worrisome times, God’s goodness is still breaking through.

Jesus says to the Samaritan, “Your faith has made you well.” I can’t help but wonder if this story speaks not only to physical healing but also to the kind of emotional healing so many of us need today—the healing that comes when we remember who we belong to, when we give thanks, when we rest in God’s presence.

Modern research is actually catching up with what our faith has long known. Studies from Harvard Health Publishing and UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center show that gratitude can lower anxiety, improve sleep, strengthen relationships, and even reshape our brains toward greater calm and compassion. Simply naming three things you’re grateful for each day can lead to measurable increases in joy and resilience.

But for Christians, gratitude isn’t only a helpful habit—it’s a holy practice. Every Sunday we gather for the Eucharist, which literally means “thanksgiving.” In that sacred rhythm of prayer and bread and wine, we remember that we are never alone, and we return—like the Samaritan—to the One who heals us.

As we prepare for worship and the week ahead, I invite you into a simple rhythm for the week:

1. Pause sometime each day and notice one moment of beauty or goodness.
2. Give thanks—speak it aloud or whisper it as a prayer.
3. Rest for a few deep breaths, knowing God is near.

It has been my experience, that when gratitude takes root, hopelessness and worry loosen their grip a little. And as I am able to stop feeling overwhelmed and am able to think a little more clearly, I can see again that even in the in-between places—between Galilee and Samaria, between calm and chaos—God is already at work making the world and beloved people whole.

Come to St. Nick’s this Sunday and experience the spiritual practice of gratitude in community through prayer, song, and the Great Thanksgiving of the Eucharist. Together, let’s turn back, give thanks, and go forth renewed.

God’s Peace, Love, and Blessings,
Beth+