Thank You

Heavenly Father, Sovereign Lord...

Thank You for all the blessings You continue to pour over me, over my life.

Lord God, Maker of All Things, thank You for the joy that buoys my spirit, beneath my frustrations, impatience, and, frankly, anger. Thank You for the deep reality of my faith which permits me to be confused without quitting, permits me to feel sorrow and know it to be a passing thing.

Oh dear Master, Creator, thank You for the mysteries which bring me such wonderful questions. Thank You for the simplicity beneath the complexity which inspires me to learn more of what You have done. Thank You for the billions of pinwheels of billions of stars which comforts me in my brief life, knowing that there is so much that is grander than me. Thank You for the beauty and mysteries of magnetars, and galactic superclusters, dark matter and dark energy, and all the wonders which have never been revealed until this generation.

Lord God, Jehovah, YWH... thank You for the wonders of this world, this four dimensional ball of dirt filled with the wonders of life. I love the beauty You have placed here, and the skill, the ability, to appreciate beauty, a skill shared by no other creature on this world. Thank you for the waterfalls, and rivers, and forests. Thank You for the orange full moon, the lady bug on the leaf, the Half Dome in Yosemite, the carved passages of mighty glaciers. Thank You for the sharp, newly born Himalayas, scraping the edge of the sky in that amazing collision of continents. Thank You for the diversity of this world. Thank You for the plants that scrub our air, and feed so many things. Thank you for the predators and the prey which balance each other, keeping each species healthy. Thank You for the connection between the wolf and the elk, the elk and the trees, the trees and the beaver, the beaver and the pond, the pond to the swamp, the relationship of the swamp to the flowers which are the only food for that particular butterfly. Thank You for letting me see the connection between the wolf and the butterfly. Thank You for the Joy I feel in witnessing all of this.

Father, thank You for the patient pace of Your creation, the graceful settling of ecosystems, creating fertile soil for our crops, rivers to replenish, oceans to feed and give us adventure.

Lord, thank You for my church. Thank You for this family of neighbors and friends, brothers and sisters, who love me, care for me. Thank You for their eagerness to help me, to walk beside me, to put their shoulders to the tasks I have been given. Thank You for that place to pray and to worship, That place where I can be quiet and feel Your breath on my spirit. Thank You for their acts of service, and thank You for teaching me the discomfort I feel in accepting their gifts is a form of pride. Thank You for reminding me of how Your Son knelt and washed feet. Thank You for showing me that service is healthy, is good. Thank You for the lessons You give me.

Abba, thank You for my family. Thank You for my children, the sons I longed for for so many years. Thank You for granting me this experience. Thank You for my wife. Thank You for the gifts I have received through her for nearly three decades... and... thank You for the sorrows I have gotten from that relationship, the struggles which have made my heart grow.

Thank You Lord for the lessons that hurt, the lessons that show what I could not otherwise see.

Thank You Lord for the things I do not want to thank You for. Thank You for this mortal life that places me in situations where I hurt, where I learn lessons to carry into eternity. Thank You for this body which hungers, and tires, and aches, and thirsts. Thank You for this mortal experience, one You found worthy to share with us.

Thank You Lord for those who have more than I, so I may learn to be satisfied with what I have. Thank You Lord for those who have less than I, so I may learn gratitude and generosity.

Thank You Father, for this whole awful, smelly, painful, beautiful, wondrous mess of a world held together by You... held together to the tiniest of what we have discovered and surmised, and yet, granting us the freedom to reject You while You support us. Thank You for making my faith a voluntary thing, so I have the wonderful privilege of giving to You something that is mine.

Thank You Lord.

Guide my path... tell me what You would have me do... I will obey.

-- Amen