THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving.  It really is a special time in the year when we’re reminded to give thanks for all the blessings we experience every day.   It’s a special time for us with ties to the U.S., a nation which celebrates this special day.  I think there are lots and lots of countries and cultures around the world that celebrate the blessings of the year, mostly at harvest time when folks give thanks for the completion of a growing season.  But I don’t know of other countries that have a national day, that is,  celebrating on the same day for the whole country.  And so this past week I’ve really been reminded to be grateful.

I’m grateful that every single day I have food to eat.  I’m grateful that I have a house to live in, a place to be safe.  And not only do I have that here, but I also have so many people who are willing to take me in at a moment’s notice and provide a bed and safe place for me for a day or week or more.  I have so many homes:  here, Maryknoll, NY, with Sisters around the world, with my brothers, my nieces and nephews, my friends.  I have enough clothes to wear, more than enough, and when they get ragged I don’t need to keep wearing them but they’re converted to cleaning rags. 

I have had the advantage of a good education, I have a ministry that gives me joy.  I have been endowed with decent intelligence and the gift of common sense.  I have good health and quite a bit of energy for someone pushing 72.  I can walk without hurting, I have almost all my teeth, and I’m only forgetful when I’m tired!

I’m grateful for Maryknoll, my missionary vocation, for belonging to this community, for all the years spent among the people of Tanzania.  I’m grateful for all the learnings I’ve experienced in living with people of different cultures and for the ways that that experience has stretched me.  I’m grateful that this experience continues to challenge me and to make me think about my assumptions and how I do things and how I think about things.

I’m grateful for a loving family, for brothers, sisters-in-law, nieces, nieces-in-law, nephews, nephews-in-law, grand-nieces and nephews and now even great-grand-nieces and nephews.  I’m grateful for those of our family who have become our angels:  Mom, Dad, Don, Ron, Kathy, JoAnn, Monte.  And I’m grateful for my friend who is like the biological sister I never had , Pat.  She is an angel to the children I meet every day, and she’s doing a wonderful job of it, just like she did while she was on this earth in her earthly body.

I’m grateful for all my friends:  for Maryknoll Sister friends, for friends I’ve known because of Maryknoll, for friends I’ve been fortunate to have met along the way and who have made me a more loving person.  I’m grateful that they continue to be faithful friends through all these years and I’m grateful that I can continue to meet and make new friends. 

I’m grateful that the earth continues to provide for us humans, and I’m grateful that we humans are learning how to care for her a bit better.  I’m grateful that I was born on the land and have grown up with a love of the land.  I’m grateful that I love getting my hands dirty in the soil and I’m grateful for everything that grows and delights my heart.

Whew, this is getting to be long and boring.  And so even though this list may not be exhaustive, I’ll finish it by saying:  THANK YOU!