Wednesday, 19 December 2007

• Piled High and Running Over

  
  

  
  

  
  

  (Adapted from the archives) Photo credit: Danny, my brother (DPH)
  [Wait! I've never realized how close those initials are to PhD! - weird.]
  
  Thankful
  
  

  I’m thankful for the gloaming,

  old hymns in minor keys,

  Reuben sandwiches and Subaru engines.

   

  For continued forgiveness for besetting sins;

  wood heat, Bach’s Passacaglia
  

  and lavender. 

   

  For long-distance phone calls,

  library cards,

  Netflix,
  

  and another leaf in our expanding table. 

   

  I’m grateful for a grandson and a stack of books,

  for garlic sizzling in olive oil,

  for book-lined walls and long car drives.

   

  French Onion soup,

  Sunday feasts,

  John Donne’s poetry,

  Two Buck Chuck Cabernet Sauvignon,

  toddler laughter and uninterrupted sleep.

   

  Truth, beauty and goodness,

  goodness and mercy,

  mercy and grace.   

   

  I’m grateful for Google,

  down comforters and

  freedom from debt.

   

  I praise God for King's College Choir,

  Vaughn Williams
  

  and psalms from the Vulgate;

   

  For manly hugs and kisses,

  hand-knit socks,

  alliteration and Carl Larsson.

   

  Declared righteousness,

  promises kept and

  the book of Ecclesiastes.

   

  Extended family,
  

  the piano, lingering meals.

  
  

  The scent of simmering spiced citrus,
  

  speech, and memories.

  
  

  Billy Collin's poems,
  

  Wendell Berry's short stories,

  extra sharp cheddar cheese,
  

  and Amazon.com boxes.

   

  Pesto, bubble wrap, smiles that light up the whole face,

  Naan, chai, and good drinking water.

   

  I wonder at the connections,

  on the web and face to face,

  for quotes, for thoughts, for book reviews,

  for the shallows and the deeps,
  

  PaperBackSwap, Anthony Trollope
  

  Jacques Barzun, and Susan Allen Toth.
  

   

  I’m thankful for the death of death,
  

  for mingled tears,

  For temporary sighs and sorrow
  

  and the hope of the future.

   

  Cobb salad, Athanasius, rustic bread.

  Independent sons, reading evenings, growing families.

   

  I give thanks for 100% cotton, loving rebukes,

  Laughter in the morning and southern windows.

   

  For nostrils, fingernails and belly buttons,

  for DSL, clematis, and airplane travel,

  different cultures and customs,
  

  enduring friendships.

  and for the Lord God who made them all.
  

  
  

  “Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good.  His mercy endures forever.”

  
  
  

  
  

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