Gratitude for Small ThingsRead Time 9 min

Every year, during the month of November, I dedicate extra time to ponder the celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday. One of my traditional practices in preparation for the holiday is to create a special list. It is a list of some of the “little things” for which I am grateful. By designating these items as “little things,” I certainly am not labeling them as of lesser importance. Rather, they are more like things of which I want to take notice and to not overlook. Here is my list for this year:

• I am thankful for drivers who do not automatically consider a yellow light as motivation to race recklessly through a traffic signal. There is something gracious about yielding to safety rather than speed.

• I am thankful for my regular visits to Haase’s Hair Emporium in Whitefish Bay. Dave has been my barber for more than 40 years. Not only is he skilled in styling hair, his genuine and engaging conversation is a reminder that an old-fashioned chat can build and nurture friendship.

• I am thankful for Pat Murphy, the manager of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team. I am a fan of his coaching style of manufacturing runs via situational hitting and strategic base running, combining with an all-out defense in which every player unselfishly contributes, while adding a dose of folksy humor like “pocket pancakes.” This makes baseball more than exciting — it also makes it fun!

• I am thankful for seeming to see more shoppers doubling up some food items in order to contribute to food pantries. I would like to think that a fuller grocery cart may well become a sign that shoppers with generous hearts may now be wielding a new weapon in the battle against the food insecurity faced by the poor.

• I am thankful for the clerks at Kwik-Trip Convenience Stores. Their genial manner, swift checkout assistance and spritely “See you next time” are a premier model of service amidst a growing number of other businesses that foist the labor upon customers to perform their own checkout on self-service machines.

• I am thankful for people who maintain eye contact and conversation even when the smart phone in their pocket is signaling an incoming message, and they anxiously want to look to see who is calling. Such restraint is what respect and courtesy looks like.

• I am thankful for the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight, which pays tribute to the veterans with a life-changing trip to Washington, D.C., to visit the memorials and experience a day of being accorded profound gratitude and high esteem to those who have defended our nation and its freedoms.

• I am thankful for my new pair of Skechers shoes. As the years pass, it is a relief to have a pair of footwear that features “hands-free slip ins.” Anything that helps the morning get off to a good start is a bonus.

• I am thankful for Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. There is something nice about a restaurant that offers “Breakfast All Day.” And I am grateful as well for the return of the old logo that featured Uncle Herschel. The Cracker Barrel is one of those places where one can take a heart-warming trip down memory lane. We all need to take more time to cherish our memories!

• I am thankful for the growing devotion to St. Dymphna. St. Dymphna was a virgin and martyr from Ireland who lived in the seventh century. She is primarily acknowledged as the patron saint of mental health, who intercedes on behalf of those with emotional, mental and nervous afflictions. She is well-known for providing assistance to those seeking inner peace, anxiety relief, mental clarity and emotional balance. Nowadays, many young people are selecting Dymphna as a Confirmation name. How grateful I am to good St. Dymphna and to our wise Confirmation candidates for helping to remove the stigma formerly associated with seeking treatment for mental illness. Blessings upon them!

Our late pontiff, Pope Francis, once was quoted as saying, “Joy springs from a grateful heart.” My Mom and Dad seem to have felt the same way as the former Holy Father. They always said to me, my two brothers and my sister that “If you think you are depressed, just start counting the blessings God had given to you, and it won’t be long before your sadness goes away.”

Meister Eckhart — a German priest, theologian and mystic who lived in the 13-14th century — once noted, “If the only prayer you ever say in your life is Thank You, it will be enough.” We Catholics should know this far better than anyone, since the formal title of the Mass is the Greek word “eucharistia,” which means “to give thanks.” In celebrating the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, gratitude is drawn from us as we acknowledge the most magnanimous act known in the history of the world, the Paschal Mystery, the saving Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!