“A Thanksgiving Message”

As my kitty perches on the top of the comforter on our bed, she stares directly at me and slowly blinks her eyes. And even though I miss it, she is saying thank you.

My first thought was she’s trying to stay awake, but the behavior was too deliberate to be a coming random nap.

Yet, I realized, she was communicating with me her approval. A thanksgiving message of a job well done. It’s as close to thank you that one can expect from a cat.

I began to ponder what unspoken ways thanksgiving can be implied? Is it words only or can one’s whole life express it?

Thanksgiving comes after a night of struggle with tears

It’s recognizing the truth with new eyes

**Thanksgiving is that opening of a locked gate.**

To shift one’s vision to eternity.

Trust reaching for maturity.

A confidence now visualized.

That locked gate that swings open with only a touch.

Seeing beyond the dirt and dust to dig

and strikes gold.

That quiet realization that you are blessed.

The goal achieved with power that was never yours.

Realizing that when one lifts a hand to block the sun, its

rays do not cease

Anymore than ungratefulness can negate God’s peace.

You simply have left the obvious …unnoticed.

Thanksgiving is personal

The sweet feeling of a “clean” cat scan of a friend’s year long struggle with lymphoma.

A hidden, lost kitty appearing from the bushes.

The touch of my husband’s hand when we pray.

Finding a copy of an old movie that was considered lost.

Having neighbors you are glad to call friends.

It’s wanting less in order to give more.

Thanksgiving allows one to hear the quiet power of God.

A moment of gratitude when one realizes that the flat tire which made you late also kept you off the 5 freeway where drivers ended up being stranded by an oil spill.

It’s appreciation for the failure that became your best teacher and friend.

Remembering the hopes and dreams of my college days and realizing God did so much more than I could ever ask or think. That His plan was for good.

Thanksgiving is an act of healing

In 1863, during the 3rd year of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln established a Proclamation of Thanksgiving to create a national holiday.

During our darkest most divisive period of American history, he entreated all Americans to ask God to “command His tender care for all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners and sufferers in the lamentable civil strife and to heal the wounds of all Americans.”

A call to lift up hands for a nation’s pain caused by a lack of agreement and struggle for superiority and to somehow find a way to become the United States of America again. He chose the power of a thanksgiving prayer to begin that hope

Thanksgiving is a song lifted in praise to God

So this Thanksgiving stop and listen; you just might hear a song from heaven…

The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; quiet you by his love; and exult over you with loud singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

**Lord, thank you for your blessing of unity.**

…a song directed towards you revealing God’s thankful heart for you.

As I consider this, I raise my hands and sing out praise as I blink my eyes with a raised head towards heaven in gratitude. Lord, in your mercy, please heal our nation once again.

Happy Thanksgiving.

By Kathy, Storyteller and Dave ,Editor Benedetto

and Kitty, with the blinking eyes of gratitude

and for the power released by a thankful heart