For all the blessings of the year

For all the friends we hold so dear

For peace on earth, both far and near,

We thank Thee, Lord.

For life and health, those common things,
Which every day and hour brings,
For home, where our affection clings,
We thank Thee, Lord.

For love of Thine, which never tires,
Which all our better thought inspires,
And warms our lives with heavenly fires,
We thank Thee, Lord.  (Albert H. Hutchinson, 19^th century)

There is much in life for which to be thankful. When listing areas of gratitude, most of us rightly include those people we love and the resources that help us to enjoy life. We are thankful for relationships, health and food, meaningful work, and opportunities to relax. I am indeed thankful for all these things as well.

I do wonder, however, if we are missing the boat, even just a little bit, in our thanksgiving. In many ways, what have enriched my life most profoundly are the challenging experiences and difficult people for whom I have very little enthusiasm to give thanks! My experiences of loss and betrayal have pushed me to grow and become the person I am. The people for whom I have felt just the opposite of affection have often shown me most clearly who I am and what I have to offer. And the experiences of poverty I've come to know teach me where my true abundance lies.

In this season of reflection and preparation to celebrate Christmas, let us give thanks for those wonderful people, communities, and experiences that "warm our lives with heavenly fires."  They illuminate us with the season's light. And let us also give thanks for the losses, the betrayals, and the failures of our lives. Let us give thanks for the irritating and even untenable people whose paths our lives have crossed and will cross. In mysterious and perhaps mystical ways, they can also be gifts of God to us.  

Thanks for continuing to bless me as we journey together.
  
Jack Price

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