Giving Thanks

The RevGalBlogPals Friday Five this week is a simple one.

It's that time of year. In the U.S., college students will be on their way home, traffic on the highways will be at its highest point, cooking and baking will ensue. But before the gorging and napping begins, let's take a moment to give thanks. Please tell us five things or people for which you are thankful this year.

Only five? That is difficult. All right...here goes. I am thankful for:

1. Memory. Watching my sister with Alzheimers and my mother with another type of dementia has caused me to value the gift of remembering. All of life is essentially a memory.

2. Color. What if we lived in a black and white world (like in the movie Pleasantville before the color came on)? How enriched my life is by the bright greens of spring, the first purple and yellow crocus, the red of the tulips in the side yard, the blue sky and bright flowers and fields of summer, the goldens and oranges of fall, the red cardinal against the white background of winter snow, the bright lights of Christmas, the delicate hues of a rainbow, a sunset, a red convertible! And how I thank God that I, the kid who was supposed to be blind, can see it.

3. Our granddaughter is on the way, due to be here around the time 2007 begins. The anticipation of this long-awaited event is part of the fun.

4. Animals. Birdsong, the soft silky fur of our little cat, Patches, the happy "smile" of a dog running in a field, elephants with their swinging trunks and big ears, horses with beautiful eyes and tails and manes, long-lashed camels, graceful giraffes, deer, bouncing through the woods as though they have springs for legs--animals are fascinating and amazing.

5. People. Exasperating, irritating, frustrating, fascinating, intriguing, glorious humanity. Relatives, children, church families, friends old and new, strangers, brown, red, white, or yellow skin tones, smiling blue eyes, large luminous brown eyes, black slanting eyes, thin, plump, willowy or stout bodies, young, old and in-between, men and women. Sometimes I wonder why we were created and how God Almighty can stand us, but sometimes I catch a glimpse of what God loves too.