thankful boy

I love Thanksgiving. It’s about not eating alone – what can I say?

I can begin by posting a couple of recipes:

• cranberry sweet tarts
• the best apple dip ever

We’re not talking gourmet here, but we are talking quick, easy, and pretty darn good.

I’ll have a few more recipes as the week goes on.

Apples were central to worship today. The children’s sermon was the story of Johnny Appleseed, a Massachusetts native who traveled across the Midwest planting apple seeds as an expression of his faith. At the close of the children’s time, as they headed for Sunday School, they handed out apples to the adults in the congregation as an expression of kindness and connection. Nothing like a good healthy snack halfway through the service.

Something about this week makes me want to bake pies. For several years now, a couple days before Thanksgiving Day (this year I only have Tuesday), I bake pies like nobody’s business (last year – fourteen), and then Ginger and I deliver them to neighbors, friends, and folks who are having a hard time for one reason or another. We also save a couple for our table as well, which provide sustenance in the days following the holiday as well. It’s one of my favorite things. I love the way the house fills up with the aromas oozing out of the oven. I love the tactile work of rolling the crusts, pressing my fingers into the dough to flute the edges, and mixing the various fillings: pecan, pumpkin, squash, and sweet potato. I love covering up the dining table with pies waiting to cool so they can begin their journey to their new home. And I love sinking my fork into slices of those that stay here.

One year when Ginger’s parents were visiting, I finished our pies late on Wednesday night and left them out to cool for the Big Day. When I came down the next morning, a little slice had been carved out of every pie on the table. My mother-in-law had come down in the night because she just needed to sample them – all of them. The biggest piece was out of the pecan pie; that’s her favorite.

Pie is good. Let us give thanks for pie. Amen.

On our way to church this morning, Ginger and I stopped at our local supermarket to fill up the Thanksgiving Bags for the food pantry. Walking through the grocery store with Ginger is an interesting and amusing experience because she is like an explorer in a new world. She saw the brownie mix and the cans of prepared frosting while I was loading up on soups and stuffing mix. She assured me the frosting would be quite popular at the pantry. I had no reason to disagree. Together, we provided a good balance of choices. As we loaded the bags into the car, I was aware, once again, of how much I have to be thankful for even in the midst of circumstances I would like to change.

Ginger asked me to sing a song Billy and I wrote many years ago that goes well with the season; it’s called “Thankful Boys and Girls.” Here are the lyrics:

let us be thankful boys and girls
for eyes and ears and toes and puppies with wet noses
for lessons we have learned and love we have not earned
we follow the beat of amazing grace
o let us be thankful boys and girls

let us be thankful boys and girls
for kisses on the mouth and teenage heartbeats pounding
for lightning in the sky and laugher in the eye
we follow the beat of amazing grace
oh let us be thankful boys and girls

for all that brought us here and all that will see us through
the passageways of life that lead to you, lead us to you

let us be thankful boys and girls
for a little common sense and painted picket fences
when packing up the plans in rented moving vans
we follow the beat of amazing grace
oh let us be thankful boys and girls

let us be thankful boys and girls
for mendelssohn and brahms and shadows growing longer
for years that slowly go and grandkids we can hold
for memories to keep and sorrow running deep
we follow the beat of amazing grace
oh let us be thankful boys and girls

for all that brought us here and all that will see us through
the passageways of life that lead to you, lead us to you

let us be thankful boys and girls
when hope is not enough that death can’t bury love
for wine and bread and hymns remembering again
we follow the beat of amazing grace
oh let us be thankful boys and girls

This week I’m going to have to fight for time to cook at home because I have to cook at work. For the first time in our marriage, I’m going to have to work part of the day on Thanksgiving, which in many ways is our favorite holiday. I hate it and I’m figuring out how to still make the day happen for us at home. In the midst of it all, I want to remember apples and pie and trips to the store, or anywhere, with Ginger.

I want to be a thankful boy.

Peace,
Milton