Before I sign off until sometime tomorrow-night-or Friday, I wanted to take a minute to thank all of my regular readers (and new visitors) for continuing to bother reading me, even when I annoy; even when you hate yourself for doing it; even when I’m writing about politics, instead of religion; even when I’m writing about religion, when you wanted politics; even when I’m writing about baseball, when all you like is football, plus you hate the Yankees; even when I’m busy being all Catholic-y when you don’t much care for Rome.
I am truly grateful for the civil debate in my comments sections; you guys are the best; even when it gets hot, it never descends into name-calling or true nastiness.
I am thankful for the occasional hitting of the tip jar and for the way you guys use Amazon and buy Monk Coffeethrough here, just to help out. I’m grateful that you buy nun soap and hand creme to help nuns you don’t know.
I’m grateful that you’re those kinds of generous folk, because you humble and teach me. I just had an email asking if I knew any cloistered nuns who could use a little financial help this Thanksgiving? Of course I do. But you see what sort of great readers I have? Most people don’t even think that way!
The attitude of gratitude; it’s the broadest and most direct route to Joy:
To be imbued with Joy is to be a missionary to the multitudinous “everyday people,” people who are perhaps not burdened in an especial way, but who have just lost track of “what there is to be happy about.” If you work the thread backward, a fruitful Joy can help beget the gifts of Wisdom and Understanding upon others.
If one does not have some measure of Understanding, one cannot find and feel gratitude. I have a friend like this. Ask her what she’s grateful for, she can come up with her kids, her health and her car, and that’s about it; she is always in a semi-funk and slightly depressed. She tells me that outside of giving birth, she has never felt joy, and that did not last, as the joy was soon consumed by anxiety. It does not occur to her that the fact that she can lift a cup of coffee to her mouth, unassisted, is something for which to be grateful. If you said it to her, she’d roll her eyes and say, “well, of course,” but knowing that the ability to feed oneself, or shave, or breath without help is a good thing is not the same as really understanding the gift of independence. And if you cannot understand that gift, you can’t feel proper gratitude for it. And if you can’t find things for which to feel grateful, everyday, you will never feel a sustained joy, or even a deep-but-unsustained joy.
But if you can feel gratitude, even if it gets a little wet and teary sometimes, then you are on the track to owning real joy. You are blessed.
I dislike the cooking and work of Thanksgiving, but I love what is behind the day. Today, while I am chopping celery and mashing root veggies, I will be whispering up all of my thanks to God, for all of the myriad blessings He has bestowed on me, including the very humblest ones: I can cook. I can use a knife and fork. I can walk on my own power; I can raise a cup of coffee to my lips, unassisted. I can move my fingers with a fair amount of speed, to articulate my gratitude for my profession, and for your kind visits.
Feel free to ponder the things you’re thankful for and share them in the comments section. See you Friday. Or Thursday night, perhaps!
November 25th, 2009 | 2:55 pm | #1
Why, thank YOU, Anchoress, for always giving us pause to think.
AND for posting my Hillary “Kiss him goodbye! vid” well over 1 year ago…altho it seems like a lifetime now.
We Hillary Hold-outs were sooooo right!
Guess we can be thankful that she’s SOS!
November 25th, 2009 | 3:22 pm | #2
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, Anchoress.
Thanks so much for your blog-and I love the picture.
November 25th, 2009 | 4:02 pm | #3
Wishing you and your dear family a most blessed Thanksgiving, Elizabeth! Give Buster a hug for me ~ what a great young man he is, as is your elder son! Thanks you for the time and effort you put into this blog…it is a source of inspiration, humor, and many hours of pleasure for so many of us!
November 25th, 2009 | 4:23 pm | #4
Happy Thanksgiving to the Anchoress and her friends and commenters. This morning I was thinking about Thanksgiving and thanks giving. My mind meandered back to one of our kids when she was four, sitting alone in the dining room before I joined her for dinner, and I heard her say, “Thank you, God, for all of our food, even the food that I don’t like.” It continually reminds me of what true gratitude should be.
November 25th, 2009 | 7:01 pm | #5
Thank you for being you.
Thank you for dressing up your cat like a pilgrim.
[Not my cat, unfortunately; it's a googlegrab -admin]
November 25th, 2009 | 8:44 pm | #6
That cat needs a thought balloon: “You will have to sleep sometime, and when you do…..”
November 25th, 2009 | 9:01 pm | #7
Thank you for all of your posts, rants and all.
I’m thankful for all of our grandchildren, which include three special-needs adopted darlings.
Looking at the three, I’m thankful their biological mothers didn’t abort them, and that our son and daughter-in-law went to foreign countries to bring them home and give them a family. They have and assortment of disabilities, but are bright, talented, and exceeding all expectations. I’m thankful that I have “normal” arms, hands, feet, and legs; that I am able to walk, and don’t need to tie my shoestrings with my teeth, crawl up the stairs, or swim with only one arm as they do. I’m thankful for all the abundance in our land. Unlike our oldest granddaughter when she was in the orphanage, I don’t have gruel for almost every meal, or have a real bath only twice a year (even though she was washed off after meals and diaper changes.) Thank you, God!
November 25th, 2009 | 10:20 pm | #8
Just a generic THANK YOU to Anchoress for the countless hours you spend perusing, thinking, summarizing and opining – all of which your grateful readers are too exhausted to attempt. You should be very proud and satisfied from your efforts. May you have a long and delicious hiatus from the KEYBOARD! –> jessm
November 25th, 2009 | 11:05 pm | #9
I’m thankful for:
my wonderful family;
the clarity of your blog posts, Anchoress;
and my candy-making friend, with whom I spent 9 hours today prepping for Christmas. She came up with a spin on the Oreo truffle recipe, substituting Nutter Butters for the oreos. YUM!!
November 25th, 2009 | 11:17 pm | #10
The most physically demanding job I ever had was in college working pt-time as a nurse’s aide at a Catholic home for multihandicapped children. I would come home exhausted but so grateful that I could stand on my own two legs and take a shower.
Now years later my own dear dad is in a similar state with late stage dementia from several mini-strokes. In recent years, especially at Thanksgiving I realize I am most grateful for the gift of conversation. It’s when you can no longer communicate with one you love that you realize the gift that you have lost.
Thank you Anchoress for the conversation you share with all your readers. Your writings are a bright spot for me each day.
November 25th, 2009 | 11:36 pm | #11
Thank you for reminding us to be grateful for the seemingly very small things such as feeding oneself, controlling one’s fingers, even breathing, etc. My dear cousin has ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease which means she is gradually losing all those abilities we take for granted. It is heart wrenching to contemplate and a reminder of how our lives are dependent on such small skills. Every night as we lie down to sleep, let us remember those crucial small abilities and be thankful God has allowed us another day.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
November 26th, 2009 | 12:17 am | #12
Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving all.
And may God have mercy on whoever dressed that poor cat up like a pilgrim!
November 26th, 2009 | 12:18 am | #13
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, Anchoress. Thank you for writing, I look forward to it everyday.
November 26th, 2009 | 2:13 am | #14
I am Thankful for my family and friends and for you and all your insight. God Bless
November 26th, 2009 | 5:35 am | #15
I’m thankful that since submitting to the Church’s teachings I have found newness of mind, a renewal of how I look at people, where I’m more concerned about their souls than what I can get from them… Its been over a month now and all things still seem new….
November 26th, 2009 | 9:10 am | #16
[...] The Anchoress is thankful on Thanksgiving. [...]
November 26th, 2009 | 11:03 am | #17
Thank you for your blog, your insight, humor and prayers.
I am thankful that I made it home safely and that the surgery is scheduled (date has been confirmed).
I am thankful for God’s blessings and protections and for the gift of my family and friends.
Now to enjoy the bliss – the cranberries are cooked, the pies are baked and the turkey with homemade stuffing is in the oven. The kitchen smells like Thanksgiving!
I hope that you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
November 26th, 2009 | 11:21 am | #18
[...] Anchoress is cat-blogging the holiday, plus offering up Irish veggie recipes. Hey, I thought that’s what all our people left the [...]
November 26th, 2009 | 11:24 am | #19
I am thankful our President has his priorities straight.
Okay, maybe not all the time.
I am thankful that the Anchoress found a cat dressed like a pilgrim on google.
November 26th, 2009 | 11:27 am | #20
George Washington gives thanks.
H/T to Southern Appeal
November 26th, 2009 | 12:13 pm | #21
If I were that cat’s owner, I would be afraid to close my eyes at night!
And reading the comments, I never thought I would be wishing that Hillary was the president. Or even John McCain. Or Ralph Nadar.
Nov. 26th is a strange day at our house. It is the date my wife’s first husband died, at the age of 33. Although we attended the same church, I had never met them prior to his passing (I attended 8am service, they went to 10am…Heaven forbid we attend a different service once in awhile!). We have a host of relatives who died in late November and December, including my Mother and our twin boys, James and Michael.
But we have so much for which we are thankful. Health, I have a good paying job, God sends a host of critters into our backyard each day to chow down and entertain us. And each day I have time to read entertaining and thought provoking writers such as yourself. God has given us a good life, so each day calls for a heartfelt “Thanks Be To GOD!”
November 26th, 2009 | 12:13 pm | #22
Loved the cat (PETA won’t). Loved the MO photo–I don’t recall seeing any others in which she looked elegant, or even well-dressed.
Yes, there’s much to be thankful for in this land.
November 26th, 2009 | 1:21 pm | #23
I have an embarrassingly long list of things to be thankful for: family; friends; health; ancestors who had the gumption to immigrate; a good education; material possessions; my God given talents and skills; jobs.
All the best to everyone on this holiday!
November 26th, 2009 | 3:20 pm | #24
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in The USA on this Blessed day.
Anchoress, I bet that your modesty keeps you from admitting that every day is Thanksgiving when it comes to Thanking our Lord.
I’ll close by saying that I’m surprised that a turkey was not dressed up for this occasion.
November 26th, 2009 | 9:06 pm | #25
Thank you Anchoress, and Happy Thanksgiving. I needed this as yesterday was dominated by one of those minor, yet stressful accidents that has made me forget how much I do have to be thankful for.
November 27th, 2009 | 3:10 am | #26
Just to let you know, Anchoress, that even though I live in Seattle, I was rooting for the Yankees in the World Series this year. Why? Because when I was in fifth grade at St. Paul’s school, we had a kid enter our class who was from New York. He was Irish, had red hair, had a New York accent and was a die-hard Yankee fan. I had never known someone who had baseball in their blood until that year, and it made an impression. He had an infectious enthusiasm that I still remember…and that’s why I rooted for the Yankees this year. Because I knew Glenn was out there rooting for them too.
November 27th, 2009 | 11:31 am | #27
This is my secong Thanksgiving in the US and my appreciation of this day has grown. Instead of the over commercialization of other holidays (Halloween) this one is about family. My wife commented about the lack of hustle and bustle and low keyed nature of the day as we realized that families did indeed take the opportunity to get together and give thanks.
A special day and one where (given the circumstances of the assault on our values) more time should be spent on noting what a great country you have to give thanks for living in.
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