~Living a life of sophisticated domestication deep in the heart of Texas~

Friday, November 12, 2010

Thoughts of thanksgiving....



This is the beautiful ceiling dome of the Thanks-Giving Square Chapel in Dallas. I absolutely must get to see it sometime soon....

I'm beginning to notice, as life goes on, that those things for which I am thankful aren't necessarily the same as when I was a child. "Come, ye thankful people come," isn't necessarily a song directed toward those who've had no difficulties or issues to resolve in their lives. I don't know what you were thinking as an American school child (were you one of us, lol) when it was time to get out the crayons and paste and draw around your hand and turn that into a turkey picture, but I was pretty well focused on being grateful for the nice things in my life. I didn't necessarily take everything good for granted, nor was I one who went around with a grateful look on my face and waking up each morning with, "Boy, am I lucky!!" As an adult living in Ireland, I found out that what I'd considered to be positive and good about my life in the burbs wasn't necessarily as well thought of by those living outside the USA.

As time has gone on, in fact, I'm less and less impressed by the "God is good" sayers. It seems that every time a distaster is averted in somebody's life, all the glory is given to God. Well, fine. Who gets the glory when the disaster lands smack dab on top of someone, or 10s of 1000s of someones???

Okay, never mind about that. I guess what I'm discovering is quite a "cornucopia" (lame, huh, lol?) of things for which to give thanks: Waking up in splendid Texas with a splendid man and finding another opportunity to get it right. Puppies that smile, no matter what. Mockingbirds. The love of a good man. My cute little margarine-colored bungalow. Good friends here and there. The soft colors of Texas and Black Angus cattle, just like in the movies, but just across town. Pictures of Washington, so beautiful as to remind me of my childhood. Getting to live in Astoria, Oregon.

Okay, okay.

Shawn

*****

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