Thanksgiving Eve 2011

It’s not Thanksgiving yet and I’ve been cooking for the better part of two days. I probably didn’t need the whole two days.  Could have gotten by with one, but for the last week or so I’ve found my mind wandering to the upcoming meal.  One big bird or two small; regular cranberry sauce or something special, what sides, how many?   Do I have at least one dish that each person will love? It was too much.  I couldn’t focus on what I was paid to be doing and it was a slow week – an extra day off worked was in order.

I’m not sure I knew why,  I just knew this Thanksgiving I wanted to spend time in the kitchen before the guests arrived.  I found a rhythm in the past two days. Stirring cranberries, cleaning beans, chopping carrots, frying bacon…my mind drifted and I prayed. 

I haven’t been praying much lately.  I’m not sure why I haven’t, I just haven’t.  It must have been something about the purposefulness of my task that led me to pray, the simple motions like chopping, cutting, and stirring that started the prayers.   The prayers just came.  They came from within me, surprising me.

This Thanksgiving I am creating a meal for nine people from five unrelated families.  I think we are all seeking connections and a place to belong. I feel a strong desire to make each person feel at home; to be welcome at our table.  So I prayed.  For Mary while I prepped dressing ingredients, for Eden as I fried the bacon, for Jack, for Duane, for Rod, and Pat, and Dan and Geila, and Judy.  I prayed for Kate and her family, and my Dad and Gayle, and this world, and my in-laws.  The prayers weren’t sentences or words but pictures, wordless memories, blessings, and thanks. I don’t know where these prayers came from but they came from somewhere deep, someplace I don’t often visit because I don’t know how to get there. I think that the rhythm and rituals that the cooking provided over the past few days showed me the way.  

This Thanksgiving Eve I’m feeling more relaxed than I can remember feeling before such a “big meal” holiday.  I think it is because this Thanksgiving I’m remembering to be thankful.