As the years go by, I find that Thanksgiving brings an increased mingling of gladness and grief. There is so much grace present in our lives, and for this, our hearts rejoice with gratitude to the Giver of all good gifts. There are also the graces that have slipped through our fingers— joyous seasons and precious souls—yet we remember and give thanks for these too, even through the tears. For the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:21). Malcolm Guite captures well this heart of gratitude, where gladness and grief are commingled, in his sonnet aptly titled:“Thanksgiving.”
Thanksgiving starts with thanks for mere survival,
Just to have made it through another year
With everyone still breathing. But we share
So much beyond the outer roads we travel;
Our interweavings on a deeper level,
The modes of life embodied souls can share,
The unguessed blessings of our being here,
The warp and weft that no one can unravel.
So I give thanks for our deep coinherence
Inwoven in the web of God’s own grace,
Pulling us through the grave and gate of death.
I thank him for the truth behind appearance,
I thank him for his light in every face,
I thank him for you all, with every breath.
(MalcolmGuite.wordpress.com)
Happy Thanksgiving! You are loved, more than you know!
