A Note From Tom: Novemeber 23rd, 2011

Hey, everyone!

Wow! I’ve been running around today like a turkey trying to get away from that dude with the hachet! But I want to stop for a sec between getting last things done and hitting the grocery store one last time before we put on the brakes for a day in the year that I  really love…to say to you, “Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!”

Ever wonder what it means?

 “Thanks”, I mean.

It’s from an old Saxon word (“thancon”…or “thankoz”)  which meant “”thought”. That word comes from an older Saxon word (“tong”) which meant “to think”.  “Thanks” means, “Just think! …About all God has done for you…about how amazing He is…about how He loves you like you’ve never been loved before…just think!”

If you stop and think…you’ll thank!

In Italian, the word for “thanks” is “grazie!” It’s like our Spanish friends say…”Gracias!” It’s where we get our word “gratitude” and “grateful”. IT comes from the Latin word “gratia” which means “a free favor from the goodwill of someone’s heart… something free, given to you!” It’s where the word, “grace” (as in “Let’s bow and say grace”) comes from! God’s gift freely given to me!

When you say, “grace” at the table tomorrow, it means that you are saying that all you see…all you smell…mmmm…all you taste…all the flavors…all the joy and love around your table and in the home… is grace! Over it all, you say, “Grace! These are gifts! From the heart of God…given to me!”  Over all on this table, I say, “This is grace!”

In France, they would say, “Merci’!” Mercy! All of this is the mercy of God to me! I say over all of this, “A table filled with delicious things to eat…a house where we stay warm and dry…a home full of love and kindness…all of this is mercy from God…for me!”

Tomorrow, when we say “thanks”, we’ll be saying, “Just think!...All this is the mercy and good gift of our God to us!”

So…let’s have a Just-think!-God-has-freely-given-us-all-of-this-from-His-goodness-and-mercy!-Over-all-this-we-say-‘This-is-grace-and-mercy!’ Day!!

By the way, on this Thanksgiving Day, we thank God with all of our hearts for you!

Just think!  Or as the Ol’ Saxons would say, “Just tong”!

You’re a gift of God to us all!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!