Bethany has been our family’s spiritual home for over 50 years. As a native Denverite and a “cradle” Lutheran, I don’t exactly remember how I “found” Bethany, but perhaps it found me.

This reflection about generosity suggests that the real roots of generosity are in gratitude.

Each Sunday in our liturgy, I know generosity when I hear “all are welcome” and “the entire forgiveness of all your sins.” Such generosity! And as Eric Clayton (jesuits.org) adds, “God delights in each and every other person on this planet: God calls us beloved: God speaks directly to us and insists that, with us, God is well pleased.” What more generous messages can we hear and know? And how else can I respond to that great love, except with gratitude?

I know that the spirit of both gratitude and generosity coexists when Bethany partners with over 40 local, national, and international organizations in outreach ministry. I see gratitude and generosity as I participate with others in the Rice and Beans Breakdown for Metro Caring; in preparing dinners for Family Promise; in giving Cereal for the Winter Food Bank at Integrated Family Community Services; and in providing warm clothes for the young people at Urban Peak. I know generosity in action when I learn that this year, the Bethany Foundation awarded $50,000 in grants to 13 organizational applicants and three scholarships; when we, as a congregation through Lutheran Family Services, sponsor Afghan families; when we collect backpacks, diapers, and socks. How grateful I am that as an individual and as a community, we can respond to our individual and collective belovedness in our generous ministry to others.