Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, Pali Pres!

I pray this blog reaches each of you enjoying a day off with your family and friends, indulging in some tasty leftovers, finding some excellent Black Friday deals (if that’s your thing), and most of all, feeling thankful for your many blessings.

As I spend this Thanksgiving Holiday with my wife, children, and extended family, I think of all the “big” things I am thankful for, such as my loved ones, my good health, and my faith. I also pause to think about the “small” things that are blessings in my life that I often overlook, like the big, beautiful palm trees outside my office window, the taste of fresh strawberries, and the comfort of a soft blanket on a cold night.

In the spirit of giving thanks for all God has given us—big and small—I share with you the poem below written by Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Anne Sexton. Through it I hope you too will take notice of all the “small” blessings in your life that you often forget to thank God for.

There is joy in all: in the hair I brush each morning, in the Cannon towel, newly washed, that I rub my body with each morning, in the chapel of eggs I cook each morning, in the outcry from the kettle that heats my coffee each morning, in the spoon and the chair that cry “hello there, Anne” each morning, in the godhead of the table that I set my silver, plate, cup upon each morning.

All this is God, right here in my pea-green house each morning and I mean, though often forget, to give thanks, to faint down by the kitchen table in a prayer of rejoicing as the holy birds at the kitchen window peck into their marriage of seeds. So while I think of it, let me paint a thank-you on my palm for this God, this laughter of the morning, lest it go unspoken. The Joy that isn’t shared, I’ve heard, dies young.

With gratitude for all of you,

Pastor Matt