Thank You Notes

by Chris Koellhoffer, IHM   November 24, 2024

They seem to be going out of fashion or at least have become something of a rarity these days. I’m talking about thank you notes, those expressions of gratitude that require putting pen to paper and hand delivering or adding a stamp for postage.

When one of my nieces was in grade school, she took them very seriously. If I were visiting with her family and gave her stickers or some other small token of love, by the time I was ready to head home that day there would be a thank you note already written and tucked into my pocketbook. I’m in no position to ever break her record for speed, but I do regularly take time to send thank you notes as well as notes of encouragement, or affirmation, or consolation, both in writing and through social media.

Some circles of friends or families have the custom of gathering around a Thanksgiving table and, before anyone makes a move on the mashed potatoes or Grandma’s stuffing,  naming one thing for which they’re especially grateful. What a lovely practice to hear those expressions of gratitude spoken aloud in a communal setting!

I’d like to go further and suggest that we stretch that beautiful practice beyond one day in November to include every single day of our lives. Brené Brown calls it the confirmation bias, noting that if we look for things to be grateful for, we will certainly find them. If we exercise our gratitude muscle, it will grow into an everyday, lifelong practice. We will notice, pay attention to, and live with awareness of how the seemingly ordinary and routine shine with uncommon beauty and grace.

Perhaps no one captures this practice of noticing what’s unfolding in the everyday more tenderly than the poet, Anne Sexton, in “Welcome, Morning”:

There is joy in all:
in the hair I brush each morning,
in the Cannon towel, newly washed,
that I rub my body with each morning,
in the chapel of eggs I cook
each morning,
in the outcry from the kettle
that heats my coffee
each morning,
in the spoon and the chair
that cry “hello there, Anne”
each morning,
in the godhead of the table
that I set my silver, plate, cup upon
each morning.

All this is God,
right here in my pea-green house
each morning
and I mean,
though often forget,
to give thanks,
to faint down by the kitchen table
in a prayer of rejoicing
as the holy birds at the kitchen window
peck into their marriage of seeds.

So while I think of it,
let me paint a thank-you on my palm
for this God, this laughter of the morning,
lest it go unspoken.

The Joy that isn’t shared, I’ve heard,
dies young.   

Takeaway
Ground yourself in awareness of the presence of the Holy One.
As you go through your day, notice the seemingly small and ordinary elements that comfort or cheer or nurture you.
Thank the Holy One for bringing these elements together to bless your day.
Repeat this practice tomorrow and in the days ahead.

Featured Image:  Courtney Hedger, Unsplash

NOTE:
Blessings of the Thanksgiving holiday to all in the United States, Canada, and in the global community! Today and every day, may you find a long list of reasons to be grateful. Please know of my gratitude for your continued supporting, following, and sharing around my blog, Mining the Now.  

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