November 20: "Farm Country," Modern Conveniences, Gratitude

Mary Oliver makes chicken soup . . . 

Farm Country

by:  Mary Oliver

I have sharpened my knives, I have 

Put on the heavy apron.

Maybe you think life is chicken soup, served

In blue willow-pattern bowls.

I have put on my boots and opened

The kitchen door and stepped out

Into the sunshine.  I have crossed the lawn,

I have entered

The hen house.

We all go through life without really thinking about modern conveniences.  We turn on a faucet without thinking about copper pipes, sewage disposal, or filtration.  We flip on a light switch without thinking about the electrical grid, powerlines, or clean energy.  And we open a can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle without thinking about how pieces of chicken came to be swimming in that broth.  Convenience.

I try not to take those kinds of luxuries for granted.  I don't have to walk ten miles through a desert to find potable water.  Don't have to slaughter a chicken or cow for dinner.  I certainly don't have to sew my shirt and pants out of flour sacks.  Compared to the citizens of other countries, I live like a very rich person.

I am blessed.  

I have to remind myself of that fact sometimes.  We all do.  If you find yourself getting all bent out of shape because the Green Bay Packers didn't win or that Joe Biden is President of the United States instead of Donald Trump, walk to your refrigerator, open the door, and look at all the food stored there.  Or turn up the thermostat on the wall and feel the heat pouring out of your furnace.  Or put on your winter jacket and go for a walk.

Then say a prayer of thanks for it all.

As I was driving to work this morning, dreading all the things I had on my to-do list, I was stopped cold by the sunrise blazing over Lake Superior.  It wasn't just a sunrise--it was a sun-shout.  Blazing orange and gold.  I pulled over to the side of the road and took a picture.  When I found myself getting discouraged or annoyed during the rest of the day, I took out my phone and stared at that picture, to remind myself that the world is full of everyday miracles.  

Tonight, I hosted a program at the library.  All of the people in the show were good, good friends--writers and musicians.  We got together, like Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, and put on a show.  We laughed and recited poems and told stories and sang songs.  All around the theme of gratitude.  And it was really amazing.

This Thursday, if you celebrate American Thanksgiving, be grateful that you didn't have to wring the neck of your turkey.  Or grow the corn and potatoes that you're eating.  Truly give thanks, for the friends and family you have in your life.

And for sunrises that stun you with wonder.

Saint Marty is drowning in thankfulness tonight.