Blog

December is upon us with the memory of November fading. For me, November, impacted by Covid-19, passed too quickly.

For many around the world November, or earlier in the Fall, is a time for a holiday often called Thanksgiving, when families gather together for a celebration around a plentiful meal.

The global pandemic precluded many families, including my own, from celebrating Thanksgiving in usual ways. We used this as an opportunity to shift our family time with my wife, myself, and our adult daughter, Miriam. We celebrated on a Saturday night with a meal consisting only of three pies: a chicken pot pie (Miriam’s favourite dinner meal), a pecan pie, and a pumpkin pie. A fun three pie meal!

As we sat together around our table, we shared things we were thankful for during the year. We noticed after sharing some of the major items, including my wife’s successful minor knee surgery, that we were having more difficulty than usual remembering great things during 2020. A feeling of sadness and grief over things we had lost during this unusual year settled in.

After some silence Miriam said, “I am simply thankful for having pie together tonight.” We all smiled and wholeheartedly agreed. It was a moment of genuine thankfulness and joy.

Too often we can miss ordinary small things that make life enjoyable. Eating dinner with family. Laughter with a friend. The smile of a child. A conversation with a colleague. An online connection with a family member. The cool breeze on an Autumn day.

Pausing in the Fall to have a formal celebration with family around a shared meal, regardless of cultural or religious connections, has value. Even more so, pausing often to be thankful is vital to our well-being. I grew up being told that it was important to share a simple “thank you” when nice things are done or said to me. I have since learned the importance of pausing to say a simple “thank you, God” throughout the day, the week, and maybe especially this year.


As we enter December and our minds turn to the gift of the Christ Child with the celebration of Christmas, for which we are eternally grateful, remember to pause and say a simple thank you to God for the ordinary, small, sometimes even unnoticed blessings that come your way.