Giving thanks

By Frank Wessling

The day of Thanksgiving 2011 is now past as a holiday in the United States. Every day, though, is the day for giving thanks. Find reasons for gratitude each day and life is better. It makes no difference whether large events or small things cause the movement. Make gratitude, thanks-giving, an everyday practice.

Some examples:

Thanks for the turkey whose life sustains us and the farmer/ranchers who raised that bird.

Thanks for the sight of glorious fall colors in our trees and the gift of sight itself.

Thanks for planes, trains and buses that run on schedule to transport families, and thanks for the people who work on holidays to make that happen.

Thanks for the work/business we attend to each day and the customers/clients who feed it.

Thanks for the good harvest weather and the earlier rains that made it possible.

Thanks for the eggs or the pancakes or the cereal that start the day.

Thanks for the heart medication, the Alzheimer’s patch, the psoriasis cream and the scientists and lab workers who found these helps for our bodies when they break down.

Thanks for school teachers who love our children in ways we can’t.

Thanks for peace builders and diplomats who quietly make the world safer and friendlier.

Thanks for police and military personnel who risk their lives to discourage and defeat the schemes of the violent.

Thanks for a glass of cold milk, the cow that provided it and the farm worker who managed the milking.

Thanks for the parents who started us in life and did their best to boost us into self-sustaining orbit.

Thanks for friends, everyone who in some way has taken special notice of us and helped shape our own goodness.

Thanks for the smile of a baby and the laughter of a happy child.

Thanks for the pastors, the pastoral associates, the chaplains, the catechists and all the people who hold our faith community together day by day.

Thanks for ice cream and beer, two of God’s pleasures on a warm day, and for hot chocolate on a cold day.

Thanks for the garbage workers who make it easy for us to be clean and smell good.

Thanks for the daily newspaper, the television news correspondent and the internet reporter who enter uncomfortable and dangerous situations to inform us on the condition of our world.

Thanks for The Catholic Messenger for inspiring and informing the faithful each week.

Thanks for a warm sweater, shoes that fit well, and fingers that move without pain.

Thanks for the clerk who engages us as persons during a sale.

Thanks for surprising goodness.