Dear Editor,

This year Meeds Methodist Church once again opened their doors to a community-based Thanksgiving dinner. The doors opened at 3 and 5 p.m. and provided the community with an RSVP invitation.As we entered the basement where the dinner was held, we came into warmth and merriment. Friends met up with other friends from town, as their bonds of friendship were made stronger. Strangers were absorbed into the crowd and were strangers no more as they made their way to greet the people and to be seated for the meal.Church members were recognized immediately and were seen standing behind the warming trays of food. Once served, people ate to their heart's content. Before the dinner I had a chance to ride with a member of the church who delivered meals to those who couldn't leave their homes. She drove to the designated address happy, with a spring in her step as she crossed the street to the house and disappeared.After the main course, I spotted a little boy who was dressed in a white shirt and tie and a red-checkered apron, helping his mother move the dessert cart through the tables of people. He recommended the pumpkin pie, which was his personal favorite, among all the desserts. Then he gingerly took the dessert and served it. It was nice to see the children taking part in the service of the church.Meed's church is embedded in the tradition of service and hospitality. There's a lesson that has become a cornerstone of the church functions here time and again. It's the story of the bread and the fish. Seeing the multitude of 5,000 souls before him, Jesus looked up to heaven and blessed the scarcity of the five loaves and two fish that were there. As the miracle occurred he not only fed the crowds, but he had leftovers, more than he started out with.When Pastor Kimberly Leskowich blessed the meal with a prayer, 150 souls were fed, and they had plenty of leftovers. I believe that it was a miracle that they didn't run out of food at the dinner, but then again, as I remember, they never run out of anything that they use to serve people.This small church takes care of the community in the little town of Nesquehoning, and by now is home to many people who joined them as a family to give thanks. Even days after the meal came to an end and we made our own turkey dinner, we may have failed to have a large crowd to feed, but we can look back and remember the family that we ate with at the church. It was a remarkable day filled with remarkable people who got closer as we joined them in the loving, sharing atmosphere of warmth and love that is always present at this small church that reaches out to everyone.Thank you, members of the Meeds Methodist church for remembering the community at Thanksgiving. We are blessed for having you are here.Faye RuckhardtNesquehoning