Topeka Presbyterian Manor
Living out ‘response ability’ NOVEMBER 2021
Celebrate Thanksgiving all year round
By Mary Bridges, chaplain NOTE: Our featured chaplain for November is Mary Bridges, chaplain at Salina Presbyterian Manor. Each month, we share a devotion from one of the chaplains around the PMMA® system in a nod to our faith-based roots in the Presbyterian Church.
with ‘Thankful Thursdays’ Psalm 100 advises us to, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him and bless his name” (KJV). It should be no surprise that the psalmist was onto something: Some contemporary researchers have found a link between gratitude and better emotional and physical health. Thanksgiving continues a tradition begun in 1621, when Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag people shared an autumn harvest feast. Colonies and states continued to celebrate different days of Thanksgiving
Thankful Thursdays – continued on page 2
My father, Henry, was an eighthgrade graduate and smarter than anyone I have known. He was a lifelong Lutheran. He did not verbalize his faith or quote scripture; he simply lived it, every day. He cared for my grandmother when she lived alone. She was eventually diagnosed with dementia and moved into a nursing home. My father continued to visit her, even though she didn’t recognize him and no longer spoke. My father loved the land. After he retired from active farming, he leased a small amount of land north of Russell on Salt Creek. There he had a huge garden, and he shared his garden produce with everyone. One year, he raised turkeys. That November, he and my mom cleaned and dressed more than 20 turkeys, which my father distributed to family, friends and people he knew were
Response ability – continued
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Get the latest on visitation and COVID-19 at our campus at TopekaPresbyterianManor.org/covid-19.
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