November 28: God Bless You, Worries and Cares, Maya Angelou, "A Prayer for Thanksgiving," Confessions of Saint Marty

But it was Christmas, and so to restore a mood of holiday congeniality, Ives made a toast and declared, "To heck with our troubles, Tom.  To our friendship.  And as the Spaniards say, Salud!  Que Dios te bendiga!  May God bless you!"

Father Tom is one of Ives' oldest friends.  They meet at a restaurant for a pre-Christmas visit.  Ives is still struggling with the darkness of grief, unable to bring himself to forgive the man who killed his son decades earlier.  Yet, he lifts his glass, salutes Tom, and offers a blessing.

I am in a frenzy of end-of-semester grading and preparation.  Yesterday, I finished my Christmas essay, and I typed it up this morning.  Once I am done writing this post, I will dive into grading again.  It's a never-ending stack of papers and tests.  Tomorrow evening, my book club meets at my house.  That means I have to clean tonight.

Despite all of these worries and cares, like Ives, I want to lift my glass today (or in my case, Diet Coke) and say how thankful I am for all the readers of Saint Marty.  Some days, the only moments of sanity I have are when I am sitting with my laptop, blogging.  It's therapy.  It's writing practice.  It's my way of feeling connected with the world.

So, thank you all for being loyal disciples, especially through the dark times of this past year.

Saint Marty is humbled and grateful.

A Prayer for Thanksgiving

by:  Maya Angelou

Father, Mother, God
Thank you for your presence
During the hard and mean days.
For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence
During the bright and sunny days
For then we can share that which we have
With those who have less.

And thank you for your presence
During the Holy Days, for then we are able
To celebrate you and our families
And our friends.

For those who have no voice,
We ask you to speak.
For those who feel unworthy,
We ask you to pour your love out
In waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain,
We ask you to bathe them
In the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask
You to keep them company.

For those who are depressed,
We ask you to shower upon them
The light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless
Sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the
World that which we need most — Peace.

Confessions of Saint Marty