Thanksgiving: Dec. 3 Musing

Mid-morning last Tuesday I was scurrying down the hallway– in a rush to get somewhere for reasons that I can no longer remember – and turned a corner to face three first graders coming in the opposite direction carrying some papers. They stopped short in their tracks, and their jaws dropped in obvious surprise to see me. But why would they be surprised to see me in the halls? That’s an everyday occurrence. I smiled, waved, said “good morning” and continued scurrying.

But out of the corner of my eye, I could see that they remained frozen and troubled. I stopped. Why, indeed, would it trouble them so to see me in the hallway…unless they were expecting to see me in my office? Aha! “Were you, by chance, on your way to see me?” I inquired. They nodded in relief. They looked at the papers in their hands; they looked up at me; they looked again at the papers in their hands; and they looked back up at me.

“Were you bringing one of those to me?” I asked, suddenly remembering the first grade tradition of writing and drawing lovely notes of thanks and distributing them around the school on the day we break for Thanksgiving holiday. More nods and more relief. I gently took and read the note that was presented to me as if it were a fragile, precious treasure – and a precious gift it was: “Dear Mr. Murray: Thank you for being our princeible. Happy Thanksgiving.” That was the moment, of course, that I forgot where I had been headed or why.

But here’s the best part of this story. I stood there and read my Thanksgiving note out loud, then began to thank the girls for my note and for the ones they were taking to others. I was fairly effusive in my gratitude, which was sincere, as they had caught me by surprise and touched me, and which they no doubt recognized. Just as I was about to say goodbye and allow them to continue their mission, one of the girls, perhaps a little taken with the moment herself, sort of blurted out, “I feel like hugging you.” So I dropped to one knee, and we had a nice hug. Then we all returned to our business, but now with much bigger smiles and bigger hearts.

I thought about this encounter several times over the Thanksgiving break: their mute surprise, the cute and thoughtful note that touched me in my busy-ness, and the spontaneous urge to acknowledge and complete the tenderness of the moment with a hug. More to the point, the encounter stands for me as simple but tangible evidence of the bounty created by “an attitude of gratitude,” something about which I have written before. There is a multiplier effect. A simple expression of gratitude at the right time, responded to with sincere gratitude, can explode like clashing atoms into a wave of goodwill and cheer.

I am fine with Thanksgiving Day being about family and friends gathering to eat a feast, tell stories, and watch football. Every other day of the year should be reserved for observing and expressing our gratitude – to anyone and everyone, but most especially to God. We focus too much on each other’s shortcomings (we all have them) and our unmet expectations. What if we let go of our expectations and forgave everyone their shortcomings? What if instead we looked for and focused only on the unique gift that each person, each child of God brings to us? Were we to adopt the attitude of gratitude daily, we would more regularly experience the mystery and miracle of life’s bounty. I happened upon it in the form of three grateful children as I turned the corner last Tuesday. What awaits us around the next corner? Will we see it? How will we respond to it? Have a happy Thanksgiving --- every day.