Ramblings on libraries and life upon the wicked stage

In a delightful bit of serendipity, I gave a talk to the kids at church on the topic of saying ‘thank you’ for the things we have on Sunday, with no intended connection to this being the week of Thanksgiving in the USA.  To illustrate my point, I had spoken some of the words of ‘Grateful’ by John Bucchino, a beautiful song which says some profound things in a very simple way.  The song lists some of the things we should be thankful for including ‘a warm place to sleep’, ‘a mind that can think’ and ‘a family of friends’ along with ‘a hand holding my hand’.  I was making the point that these, among others, are things that we should be thankful for every day, and we (definitely an inclusive we) are not very good at doing this.

I tend to be thankful about big things.  A new house, a new role in a show, a solution to a problem, that sort of thing.  I often forget to say thank you for simply being alive, for continuing to have a home, a job, friends and a family, my health and most of my faculties.   So in talking to the children about this, I was also challenging myself.

 In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are a small selection of things that I am thankful for:

• my ability to perform and entertain, which means I can do some wonderfully fun shows
• my still new house and the housemates who share it with me
• the stable state of my mental health at the moment
• imagination, and all that it enables me to enjoy
• the beautiful city that I live in

All things that I should thank God for more often than I do, along with those things that I truly need.   Breath, love, hope, food, warmth, water.  I am lucky to have all of these things, which so many people lack.  I leave you with some of the words of John Bucchino:

It’s not that I don’t want a lot
Or hope for more, or dream of more
But giving thanks for what I’ve got
Makes me so much happier than keeping score

. . .

Grateful, grateful
Truly grateful I am
Grateful, grateful
Truly blessed
And duly grateful