I want the children and youth to know that I’m going to talk for a few minutes – and in this short talk, toward the end I’m going to ask you to do something. So, be ready. I do enjoy holidays. They are special days that have great things in them: people I love, food I like a lot and some holidays even have gifts with them. And the holiday I enjoy the most is Thanksgiving – it’s the one I like the most because three of my favorite things are all together on this day: people I love, favorite foods, and a chance to say thank you.

This is a day that I get to spend with family and friends. I will call my family on Thanksgiving day because they live in another state, in Indiana. When I call, everyone will pass the cordless phone around the table to say hello and talk for a few minutes. They will tell me what they’re having for dinner, how school is going and if they’re going to the circus this year. I like hearing about their plans and their voices – they sound good to me. And I’ll be spending Thanksgiving with friends in Berkeley – with people who are like my family. We will spend the whole day cooking in the kitchen. Some years we have had as many as 22 people at the table. So we cook and talk, cook and laugh, cook, dance and sing to the music playing in the background. The kitchen will get hot with all the cooking and hot air. We’ll scurry to find the good table clothes, set the table with the best dishes and worry about how many glasses we need. And probably like many of you, as we sit around the table, before we eat we’ll hold hands and we look at everyone, look them in the eyes and we say something we are thankful for. We will say how glad we are to be in each other’s company – that we can gather together around the table one more time, look into each other’s beautiful faces and have a meal together. We will share stories and memories about being together, about what’s happened this year; we will enjoy each other’s company. And we will remember those of our friends who can’t join us this year. We will remember how much we love them, miss them and we will be glad for the chance to have known them. These precious people in our lives – who give us so much: comfort, someone to laugh with, go to the movies together, to cry with and live with. These dear folks who know us so well, who pamper and spoil and confront us – these folks we call family. They are precious gifts. Being with them makes the day truly a holiday.
And then we eat – oh the food. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because of the food – I must admit it. I like it all and unfortunately, I eat it all. From the turkey, dressing, homemade cranberry sauce, to the yams, salad and green beans…to the pumpkin pie with freshly wiped cream. Oh I’m hungry already. I’m hungry for the food as well as the group. Mid-way through the meal I start creating the perfect bite on my fork. For me it means a little bit of turkey with dressing and cranberry sauce – the flavors burst in my mouth and in that moment I am most thankful for the taste buds on my tongue.

While the food is important and the people I spend the holiday with are essential to the creating the holiday, the most vital aspect of the day, the thing that ultimately makes it a holiday is this: it is a whole day set aside to say “thank you.” It is an entire day of celebration – of giving thanks. And we give thanks for the bounty in our lives – for each other, for our health, for the food in front of us, for the chance to live in this country, in this neighborhood, in this moment in time. When I say thank you, I feel good. Saying thank you reminds me of all the good things I have in my life. And I try to remember to say thank you for all the hard things in my life because they have helped shape who I am today.

There is a song in our hymnal that I love – because it says what I’m trying to say “For all this is our life” – for needs and service, work, rest and love, for sorrow, pain and loss. For the fearful hours that thank god they do pass, for learning new things – for all that is our life, we sing our thanks and praise, for all life is a gift…a gift we use to build the common good…to build houses in Tijuana, to support young and healthy kids, to feed those who hunger and to work for peace and justice. I give thanks for the chance to be here, in a healthy state of mind and body that allows me to do these things, that longs to do more.

Saying thank you reminds me of my deeper connection to all that is on this planet. Offering up my praise and thanks gives me strength and hope for the coming day. When I was younger, not much older than some of you here this morning, I used to go to another church – a church very different from this one. One of the things my RE teachers taught me was how important it was to pray every day and say thank you. Now I’m in this church and I try to start each day with a prayer – a prayer that says thank you – for the night’s rest, for this new day and all the opportunities that await. And I say thank you for you – for this wonderful community that we are creating together. Saying thank you is a good reminder of how blessed we are and how important it is to share our blessings with others.

So kids, I’m getting close to the end and remember, I asked you to get ready to do something. There is a part of a poem I want to share with you. The man who wrote it said thank you for some neat things and before I read that, I invite you to participate. I want you to take a moment and think of one thing you are thankful for. And on the count of three, I want you to say that one thing out loud. Then we’ll invite the adults to do it. So, are you ready? Do you have your one thing? OK, 1…2…3. Now the adults, ready? 1…2…3. Amen. We have so much. And here is that poem by e.e. cummings: “I thank you god for most this amazing day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is YES.” Life, it is a celebration and this holiday is the best day. Amen.