I want to express my thanks to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Martha, my wife makes us all hold hands around the Thanksgiving table and say just what exactly we are thankful for. She warns us beforehand, so we think about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m going to ask the same of you right now. Stop reading this, look up at the ceiling and think about what exactly you should give thanks for. Then say it aloud. If there\u2019s someone else in the room, please explain this exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s easy these days to grouse. Some bemoan the planet warming while others are up in arms that transgender people might be considered as they wish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe you can\u2019t get to the thankful part without the grousing. Then you need to take a deep breath and do better. You\u2019re alive, aren\u2019t you? That\u2019s a start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This season darkens in these northern latitudes. Some may be looking at the end of their life. I have attended many in such circumstances. Death comes to us all. I have learned, maybe you have to, most of us die just about the same way we have lived. Some are angry and bitter, some peaceful and thankful. I\u2019m pressing you now to move toward the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My thanks I offer is that you read this. I rarely hear from anybody about the words I write. I often use the phrase \u201cWe should talk.\u201d But I\u2019m in my shop and I don\u2019t do Facebook or Reddit or X or Truth Social, so I don\u2019t get the social media feedback. And I\u2019m not asking that you send me a postcard. I\u2019m just thanking you for your time to read and consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thanks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hope you by now have thought about the things that you consider worthy of thanks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe it was a neighbor. Maybe they plowed your drive or waved \u201chi\u201d to you as you sped off on an errand. Maybe they have just lived there for 20 years, providing stability to your neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe none of that you consider worthy of your thanks. Be careful. You may die like that someday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you want to get big picture, look out the window. That big spruce on the south side of your house that shades you all summer may deserve your thanks. Does it need a trim, some fertilizer? Or maybe it\u2019s reached it\u2019s time and it needs a chainsaw. How we give thanks can come in many forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Big picture thanks can often lead to the spiritual and with that comes the religious. Thanking God is almost a given at the Thanksgiving table. This wonderful mysterious world brings me awe and I give thanks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You might have detected a bit of a moral quandary here. You might be thinking I am saying we should give thanks to ease our passage into the beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not so. There is no benefit expected from the honest thanks. It is just a gift, freely given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what lesson is there in this for an Idaho Democrat and all you other Republicans out there? A pretty big one really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are just small players in the big scheme. This state, this nation, this planet will survive us. We are just dust motes in the big picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what we call each other, what we say about each other, how we envision each other just gets in the way of our being thankful for ourselves and each other and this big, beautiful world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, I will cook my turkey and I will prepare my spoken thanks as my wife, Martha, asks us to. I will express thanks that we can talk with each other about our fears, our needs. And thankfully, we can listen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I want to express my thanks to you. Martha, my wife makes us all hold hands around the Thanksgiving table and say just what exactly we are thankful for. She warns us beforehand, so we think about it. I\u2019m going … Continue reading