I am thankful for friends who
encourage me that God holds everything in His hands as He makes miracles.
At Mass, the deacon noted that the first Thanksgiving meal wasn’t a
feast. It was rather a celebration of getting through the winter with the help
of friends.
Last Thanksgiving the rest of my
community ate bread and cheese for Friday fast, but my name was drawn with a few others to go to a nearby pro-life dinner. (I had sacrificed Thanksgiving
and a pro-life dinner at home and God gave me both back.
It snowed that evening. On the way
home, one of my traveling companions, an Alaskan man with wild hair, scraggly
beard and owl-like bushy eyebrows framing his glittery, wonder-filled eyes,
sang in a throatier, deeper Woody Guthrie style the Hail Mary. I’d never heard
the melody before. It was grounded, but ethereal like wind blowing across the
icy tundra.
Late in life, he gave up house and
career to build a rural cabin and become a hermit. I am thankful that simplicity
taught him joy.
He was the first to notice flowers
in the spring -- “Have you seen that
little red one on a bush near the house it yet?” The one to smile and
point with excitement at falling snow sparkling in the sunlight… A friend of
solitude and music with a flair for Johnny Cash’s Ghost Riders in the Sky.
That man had peace about him – and
simple, humble joy. When we said the Our Father at Mass, he would pray loudly
and clearly with his eyes shut as he held his hands to heaven in total
surrender.
A friend
emailed me today, “Recently, I had a sense of the Father having ALL things and
absolutely EVERYTHING in His hands….With that, came the sense of Him saying,
'you don't ask me.' As in, 'ask me'.”
This email
reminded me of my Alaskan friend, and so now I’m askin’…God, if I hold up my
empty hands and surrender again will you give me again everything I need? Can
you help me practice gratitude for everything you give me – little flowers,
sparkling snow, and suffering?
Lord, I trust in you. Thank you for
holding me in your hands, for the memories and people who loved me on
Thanksgiving.
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