In Gratitude

Sometimes gratitude lists seem a bit trivial--just the idea of setting down on paper things for which you are grateful can be a meaningless excercise.  On the other hand, it can be a good way to remind oneself of the many ways life is good.  So here goes--I am sure I will leave something or someone off this list, but here is what comes to mind this week of Thanksgiving, 2019.

I am thankful for . . .

Having faith, not blind faith, but faith informed by reason and made richer by emotion.

My wife, Linda, who brings a bit of common sense into my sometimes overly intellectualized life and who cares for me in so many ways.

My mother (and my late father) who gave me so much as a child including the love of reading, the love of music, the love of theater and the love of God.

My children, Matt, Bruce and Liz, each of whom provide me with ever new challenges and delights.

My six grandchildren, Zak, Amirrah, Chris, Haley, Megan and Jyzelle, who keep reminding me that while the world is an ever changing place love can be, should be, is a constant.

My friends, both old and new, especially Charlie, who I've known since third grade, Jerry who has traveled the clergy journey with me lo these many years, and Gil, who helps me stay on the straight and narrow.

My calling, which for over forty years has allowed me to impact people's lives in ways I do not always realize, and which has provided me a way to use my God given talents.

My congregations, the one I now serve on Sanibel, and those of the past, all of which have left indelible marks on my life.

The freedoms I enjoy as an American, especially the freedom of and from religion and the freedom of speech.

And so much more:  books, pizza, Beethoven and the Beatles, hot showers, the poetry of Mary Oliver, Rumi and Billy Collins, books, Sibelius and the Gershwins, the legacy of Martin Luther King, the Brothers and Sisters of the Way, health
insurance and good health care, our partner congregation Temple Bat Yam, my Rotary Club  . . . .

For each of these and so much more, all I can say is thank you.  That and a wish that your list might be a rich and as full as mine.  Happy Thanksgiving!  I am grateful for each of you, my readers!