Thanksgiving is here, Thanksgiving is here!!!

[turning down my McCartney music so that I can concentrate on something other than his music and what I'm usually thinking of when his music is on...]

So, we have a big fat turkey and maybe some ham, but most importantly of all... We can eat a lot and even many pies! What is this all for?

I don't really want a nice historical recounting of the pilgrims and their first harsh and almost last winter and then being rescued by the Indians who shared their bountious meals with them. What do I want to know then?

What are you thankful for? For this year? For your whole life?

I think that, and even for me, the third Thursday in November has become something other than a "day of thanksgiving" but has turned into a little "pre-christmas-warmup". Thanksgiving should be a day when we really count all of the good gifts and blessings that God has given us; both infinite and eternal--we need to think of the mountains of blessings that God has given us as well as the blessings that he has given us to enjoy forever.

He has given us 1) our bodies, our minds, and our spirits (then dare to contemplate your family and families that you belong to and each of the spirits that you are brother or sisters with...). He has given us our 2) earth to live on (then think outwardly to all the countless planets and stars in just our universe alone and then venture on beyond that [ok, don't be careful to not hurt yourself thinking of this stuff...]. He has given us 3) our Gospel, our church, and the Priesthood (if you dare, think of all the things this blessing has jurisdiction over and all of the blessings that you are permitted to participate in...).

He has also given us the eternities and everything that's included in that concept: the eternal blesings the each of the infinite blessings we've remembered will enjoy for, how long? Eternity.

Just think of it this way: You think that just infinite is an impossible concept to understand, but then just remember that all of those infinite points stretch forever and are eternal! Every one of those points that line up on an X axis go forever and then remember that we can stretch the points on the Y axis forever too. Then imagine, if you will, that we add a 4th axis on our 3-dimentional model, becuase we've now entered the point where we add time to this model...

Ok, now come on back. Don't worry about a 4th point at all or time and let your brain start to relax as it simply is Thankful (possibly because you can just deal with thinking of things as you have seen them act in the world?!?).

All right... Now that we've started you thinking of how much you should be thnkful for, just remember that you should turn off that bowl-game/football playoff/violent legal-gladiator-game and discuss what this holiday really means. Then, of course, eat more pie. Remember that you should always come back to that part of the night: pie-eating!

JPS