Let Us Give Thanks

Thoughts of thanks right now:

1. for the ability to freely express thanks and speech without censor
2. for each and every one of YOU my friends online and off-line
3. for my family and relatives and all the different ways they shape and form my life
4. for the basic things to live life like sight, hearing, taste, touch and scent
5. for a roof over my head, blankets on my bed, and things strewn around my room
6. for change in my wallet and leftovers in the refrigerator
7. the passage of Prop 8

I started to put together a list like this the evening of adoration at the SMMEs. This one says:

1. "Blessed I thank You for:
2. the gift of vocation
3. the graces
4. the gift of my parents
5. sight and hearing
6. the silence
7. for leading me home
8. for my sister
9. the mystery
10. the beatific vision
11. Your mother
12. La Virgen de Gaudalupe miracle
13. for life
14. for the course of my life
15. the cult experience
16. the gift of education
17. the gift of desiring You
18. the Church
19. those who were able to lead me home August 2005: Mike, Fr. Aaron, Pat Ku, Christie Swanson, Jenny Schwartzkoff, and all others who were online friends at that time, and Sumer Alvarez, for which I would not have been at Mass if it weren't for her death and funeral.

This week I've heard "thanks" from patients:

1. for giving hope
2. for re-focusing
3. for teaching its all right to ask God for things (not just praise; ask and ye shall recieve)
4. for calming them
5. for letting them know that people care
6. for companionship

Last night driving home I tried to think of the ONE thing I am thankful for: the gift that God gives us all in His own time and in our spiritual readiness - the ability to desire Him and return it.

Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving