Well Lord, Thanksgiving is rolling around again, and before I get caught up in cooking and company, I want to go over your annual job review, mentioning the things you’ve gotten right this past year, in my humble opinion.  

Top of the list, for our family, is granddaughter Maeve.  She finally arrived in October, two weeks late.  Her mother was a little perturbed at you for making her go nine and a half months with this pregnancy, but last I heard, all is now forgiven, as Alison (and the rest of us as well) are quite pleased with the baby.

The year featured other happy personal highlights.  I retired for the third time-- and then turned 68 this summer. It doesn’t have much significance—68, except now I can tell people I’m almost 70.  Which I do quite a bit, especially when Jie is trying to get me to do something I don’t want to do.  I decided decades ago that 70 was when you had one foot in the grave.  I don’t think that so much now, but I’m trying to milk that earlier assumption all I can, whenever I need to get someone off my back.

Enough about me:  Thanksgiving is a whole lot about harvest, and so I thank you for another good year on my small farm (.005 acres of raised garden beds in my backyard) and my small botanical garden (70 types of plants in the front yard.)  The tomatoes were abundant, as was the arugula.  But the squash, eggplants, and green beans were a bust.  I’m blaming the rabbits for that, however, not you or me. 

As for harvests elsewhere, farmers I know seem pretty happy, and Jie and I have had an abundance to eat all year.  I’m hearing of some places, however, where people are starving: like East Africa.  But I don’t blame you… or rabbits for that one.  It’s that damn war in Ukraine, which you didn’t start.  And it’s climate change, which was no problem until human technology outpaced humane ethics.  I appreciate that you are showing us the way out of our catastrophes, by calling people to be both peacemakers and caretakers, good stewards of community and planet.  Thank you.  I know you’ll keep working on your end, and I’ll try to be more fruitful on my end.

One of the main things I like about you is all the creating you’ve done.  Sometimes I get to experience it firsthand, and sometimes I enjoy it vicariously-- through pictures, narratives, and testimonies of others.  They say that Jupiter got as close to the earth as it ever gets this past year. That made some folks really excited. I remember the thrill I got when first seeing Jupiter through a large telescope.  I still get excited when I spot it in the sky.  But when I checked it out that week it got so close, I couldn’t tell any difference.  So let me just say this:  it’s really nifty how all the planets stay in the elliptical orbits you set. And thank you for Jupiter. It’s just the right size and distance from the earth. It protects us from asteroids, but it's not so close as to suck us into its gravity. Good job on the physics, God!

Speaking of asteroids, I suppose you know by now that we tried to blow one up this past year.  Sorry about that. We humans have a fear of stuff flying at us from outer space. Plus, our motto is “do unto others before they do unto you.” It's not what our Lord taught, but with the religious right and left both jilting Jesus, it looks like we may be blowing stuff (and each other) up for a while. Thank you for your patience... although some of us are hoping you won't be too patient, or we may not have much of a future.

Other first-hand nature highlights for me this year included insights about growing corn (from Farmer Tom), Mindy’s kitten (Luna), the Bay of Fundy (Canada), fall foliage (the Midwest), and listening to rain and thunder while still curled up in bed (Urbana.) 

Moving on, I am amazed at how many of your blessings come to me through the church. The bishop sent me to Geneseo Grace to be their pastor for the first six months of the year, and I had a grand time.  The weather demons would have thwarted me, as I spent the first half of my tenure driving through snow, fog, and ice.  But new tires on a four-wheel drive made for an effective exorcist.  Every time I think of the folks in Grace church, I am aware of the love, joy, and peace I received from them, overflowing.  Grace:  sure miss them, even though I don’t have the stamina to keep up the week by week work of leading a church. 

All of my best friends came to me in some context of the church:  congregation, seminary, conference, retreat…  Those friendships have continued to enrich my life this past year.  With each new church I am given, or Jie is given, I continue to discover new friendships.  

In retirement, I enjoy visiting a variety of churches, which I’ve never been able to do.  The unique music, architecture, scripture insights, liturgies, sermons, and fellowship of each congregation are feeding my soul.

Of course, you know better than anyone that congregations and denominations aren't perfect. We United Methodists are making quite a mess of things this past year.  I think I have some wisdom that could help out, but nobody wants to hear it.  (But you know that feeling.) When I was ordained, decades ago, I took a life-long vow to help lead my conference and its congregations.  But I’m not sure these days whether leadership means trying to keep the old system patched up—or let it go so it can die and be resurrected.  If you would just get back to me on that one…

There have been no deaths in my close family this past year, despite some covid, chronic ailments, and hospital stays.  We’re all still here and keep plugging on.  

But our world did send several notable folks your way.  Word is, you’ll figure out what to do with them next.  We’re grateful for their time on earth—for the most part.  I suppose you’ve given Queen Elizabeth II an audience by now.  We gave her a royal send-off in September.  Since last Thanksgiving we’ve also sent you Bob Dole, Desmond Tutu, Jerry Lee Lewis, Mikhail Gorbachev, Olivia Newton John, Ivana Trump, Sidney Poitier, Meat Loaf, Louie Anderson, and Thich Nhat Hanh.  Must be interesting up there.  Anyway, thanks for the memories.

On a personal note, thank you for my family, for so many wonderful books to read, for a chance to travel, for a comfortable home, for precious friends new and old, for 13 good years with Earl-the-Cat, for hot coffee each morning, for the changing of the seasons, for escapes from church and national politics… and for all the confidence I feel as I say, “wait ‘till next year.”