THINKTHANKS

If you’re on Facebook, you may have noticed the November tradition of daily thanksgiving postings. Thanks for home and thanks for food and thanks for family—that sort of “regular” thing, and even thanks for washing machines and thanks for reliable automobiles and thanks for good water—the sort of things that might not be so “regular.”

I’ve heard that some people view this public thanking as “showing off” or “making things up,” just so they have something to write about. I’ve heard some people say that, yes, of course they are thankful for their loved ones, for their daily food, for their house and for their job—but after that “they just can’t think of much else.”

And therein lies our problem. We don’t think much about this and so we don’t thank much, either.

Scholars say that the word “thank” most likely comes from “the Proto-Germanic ‘thankojan’ which is a derivation of ‘tong’- ‘to think, feel.’"

Many years ago I was challenged to fill a typed page with as many reasons to be thankful as I could. I sadly admit  that it took me much longer to complete this task than it should have, though once I got going I did manage to do it. And for me, this November “Facebook thanking” is an annual tune-up, lift-up for my spirit. I agree with Alfred Painter: “Saying thank you is more than good manners. It is good spirituality.”

So, if you’re my Facebook friend, what follows is a preview of some of what I’ve been thinking—and thanking— about lately:

**The color turquoise, or teal or aqua—my favorite, as it always reminds me of the sea (my favorite place!)

**Smiles—pure, fresh joy on my baby granddaughter, twinkly and sweet on the boys.

**Purple (and grey and blue and snow-capped) mountain majesty.

**Airplanes (they can turn 20+ hours into about 6).

**Being 62. Yes, really.

**My lightweight laptop. Makes lugging around this overpacker’s stuff much easier on the muscles.

**Being one hour from YNP part of the time. Getting to visit my bison friends pretty much whenever I feel like it.

***The camera that records so many images of my bison friends. And their friends. As all my FB friends well know! Not sorry, either!

**Music. Songs. Michael W. Smith’s new Christmas album. And I don’t care that it’s not Christmas yet—I play it unashamedly!

Goodness, I seem to be out of room and I’m not nearly through thinking, or thanking. And, by the way, thanks for reading, for as G.B. Stern once said, “Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone.” (By the way, you might try listing your own thinking thanks! Your spirit will thank you!)