Thanks. Giving.

Together, the two words conspire
To rob each other of meaning.

We must look more closely:

Individually, they reveal
Themselves to be
No less than
The footprints of God.

God,
In whose name
Our strangely appareled
Antecedents
Left their homes,
Sought new soil,
Formed their feast.

It was toward the
Divine
Their thanks
Were directed.

It was
God's own giving
For which they
Gave in return.

And joining them
At the table
Were those whose
Understanding of God,
While vastly different,
Was,
Could have been,
Harmonious
With their own,
As grateful,
As giving as their own.
Theirs was a feast of thanks,
A celebration of giving.

Two words.
Every day:

Thanks. Giving.

Gratitude. Generosity.

But of course:
Thanks and Giving,
Scrolled around
Each other,
Form
A Horn of Plenty.

The Source of All
Brings forth Giving
From gratitude --
From Gratitude,
Bounty.
And it begins again.

This virtuous cycle
Is the very
Engine of Life,
The cyclic giving
Of the heart,
The cleansing work
Of the lungs,
The way life begins,
The way we all
Come to be,

The idea in whose service
All that is
Moves beyond
To become,
Again,
All That Is:

Give.
Be grateful.
And in gratitude,
Give again.

--Mr. Gobley