Thanksgiving Tapestry

For Cindi, flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone,
For Lauren, and her mischievous little ways ("possibly...")
For David, and his unflagging humor,
For Bekah, and her unimaginable energy,
For Dave, who has always been a father and more to me - a dear friend,
For Jo, who has always been a mother and more to me - a dear friend,
For all my brothers and sisters and their spouses and their children - a greater family a man could never hope to have.
For Lucy, and her faithfulness,
For Pumpkin, and his companionship when I'm trying to type and he's trying to love on me,
For Katie, and her keeping my feet warm most nights,
For Cathy, and her constant reminding me of her relationship to lions,
For Big Paw, and her invitations to touch but not to hold,
For the new cat, and her swollen belly (hey, we are told to give thanks for all things...),
For the beautiful people of St. Paul's, who remain icons to me of God's gracious mercy and forgiveness,
For friends (both those who know how to play pinochle correctly and those who don't) and for laughter and for beer,
For the "inner sanctum" - whoever dreamed up that awful name?
For Dr. Nagel and all that he has given me over the years that can never be repaid,
For Fr. Schmemann and his amazing way of make me to see things I never saw,
For Lee and his constant friendship and kindness and for his absolutely zany collections of the Blessed Virgin,
For Randy and Rachel - both of whom know how to play pinochle correctly,
For all the brothers (and sisters) that gather on Wednesday morning: Tim, Heath, Brian, Big Brian (at least every once in a while), Stuart (even more seldom than Brian, but always a joy), Heath, Kirk, Sandy, Elizabeth, Lee, Keith, and Ryan and whoever else I am forgetting...
For my elders - men who never cease to amaze me in their sage advice to a stubborn and at times silly pastor,
For my Scottish Lutheran buddy who delights and exasperates me all at the same time,
For the beauty of our liturgy and the joy of our hymns,
And last but not least, for the gift of communion with our God through Jesus Christ, for the salvation Immanuel brought us, and for the joy of the Holy Spirit's indwelling, and for the unspeakable privilege of serving in Christ's Church; for these and for all that I have in my sinfulness neglected to mention:

DEO GRATIAS!