When I was growing up, we always said grace before eating. Faster or slower, with more intent or more appetite, we said:
“Lord, bless this food to our use and us to thy service,
And make us ever-mindful of the needs of others. Amen.”
Liz and I preserve the idea of grace, but make it our own. Each night, when we sit down to dinner, we share gratitudes. It’s a catalog of things we’re grateful for on that day – everything from the meal to getting a good night’s rest to the view out the window. In addition to the rotating set of things we appreciate, Liz always ends with “And I’m grateful for the puppy” – at which point we look over to see Reese patiently sitting on the rug, mindful that he can’t enter the dining room while we’re eating. Then we tuck into the meal and start up some everyday conversation about life.
These nightly gratitudes are daily, private, and modest. On the other hand, the upcoming holiday of Thanksgiving is annual, in community, and over-the-top. Thanksgiving asks us to not only reflect on gratitude but to celebrate it. We cook it, share it with others, Instagram it, and gorge ourselves on it. Both are lovely ways to engage with gratitude.
When we sit down for an overabundance of food this year, our annual ritual of Thanksgiving and daily ritual of gratitudes will merge. While pouring far too much gravy over my entire plate, I’ll share with everyone that I’m grateful for:
- My wife Liz; our equal dedication to making our new marriage great
- The health of our families and the medical practitioners who have supported us in pursuing well-being
- A community that we’re increasing rooted in within the Bay Area
- A home keeps in the heat and keeps out the rain
- Space to write, time to cook, and motivation to work out
- Jobs that we enjoy and find meaning in
- Financial comfort and security
- People who are willing to engage in open-minded, open-hearted dialogue; everyone who is standing up for love, inclusion, and charity, particularly in our challenges around diversity in this country and our call to take in refugees globally
- All of you – the anonymous page counts that I see in my dashboard – and the moments when, in casual conversation, you reveal who you are
- And, of course, the puppy dog
If you’re celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday, what will you share?
And, beyond that, how do you bring gratitude into your life? What are your annual rituals of gratitude? What are your daily rituals of gratitude?
Thinking of you all on the eve of the holiday,
Meredith
The Intentional 