We Gather Together

“We gather together …

. . . as we have year after year. With gratitude for all that's been given to us -  our health, our families, friends, and food enough for all - we gather together to give you thanks.

“We gather together …

. . . With children whose feet now touch the floor, whose bibs have given way to napkins, sippy cups to glasses of wine. No longer squirming to play outside, they sit content and speak about life. For who they were, and who they are, we gather together to give you thanks.

“We gather together …

. . . With an empty chair at the table. Without that laugh, those stories, the emptiness at the table matches the emptiness in our hearts.  Still, we reach across the void to the hand that completes the circle. We gather together to give you thanks for those who were once with us, and who, by some wonderous and mysterious way, are with us still.

“We gather together …

. . . fully aware we're not a Rockwell painting. Challenges at work, struggles with money, disagreements within families, and distance from friends are not to be left from the table. Even in these, you are there and we're not alone. For that, we gather together to give you thanks.

“We gather together …

 . . . While the world spins in uncontrollable directions. Wars tire us, terrorists frighten us, and yet we feel safe holding the hands of those we love. For the gift of life, for the gift of these lives, we gather together to give you thanks.

“We gather together …

 . . .  and maybe it's that simple fact that leave us most grateful of all. To be given the gift of not walking through life alone, to have others we can love and by whom we can be loved, is perhaps the greatest gift of all. For that, we gather together to give you thanks.