Weekending: Aflame with Glory

I heard this poem this morning, on On Being. And it set my heart to singing.

Thanksgiving Day Prayer
by Walter Rauschenbusch (1861–1918)
For the wide sky and the blessed sun,
For the salt sea and the running water,
For the everlasting hills
And the never-resting winds,
For trees and the common grass underfoot.
We thank you for our senses
By which we hear the songs of birds,
And see the splendor of the summer fields,
And taste of the autumn fruits,
And rejoice in the feel of the snow,
And smell the breath of the spring.
Grant us a heart wide open to all this beauty;
And save our souls from being so blind
That we pass unseeing
When even the common thornbush
Is aflame with your glory,
O God our creator,
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Have I ever told you the importance of Thanksgiving week in our little family. O wait. Maybe I have. So many life events that invite retrospective glances, but to have them all in a few day span every year, helps us mark time-- to come to this week with as much hope and expectation as we do New Years day, or the beginning of a new school year.

We started this week of so well... the group we eat Sunday lunch with came over to our house for Sunday dinner. And we had a holiday meal-- A Friend Thanksgiving. Ahh. I hesitate to say to much and perhaps my memories won't be as clear, beautiful. It was a beautiful evening.

So this week, be extra thankful. Let your memories serve you well. Give kisses and hugs, say your I love you's. Because being thankful isn't about the perfect turkey it's about all the common things that are aflame with Glory-- the people you see (or don't see) often that make the world go round.

May your heart be wide open to all this beauty this week.

What are you thankful for?