October 8, 2026 - Thank You

Thank you!

Friends

Canadians are famous for saying sorry, but this week I have been wondering if we say two words even more often: thank you.

We seem to say it constantly: to someone who holds a door, pours us a coffee, sends a card, offers help. (There is an old joke that Canadians are so polite they thank their bank machines!)

I think much of the time we thank you automatically, but I wonder if those two words hold more than we realize.

When we truly say thank you, we are acknowledging that something has come to us as a gift. We are acknowledging, even for a moment, that we do not live entirely on our own.

Meister Eckhart, a 14^th century German mystic, says that if the only prayer you ever said was thank you, it would be enough. Writer Anne Lamott, in her book Help Thanks Wow says thank you is one of the three prayers that seem to cover almost everything.

Help comes pretty naturally when life is challenging and wow emerges almost on its own when beauty or wonder surprise us. But thanks is the prayer that helps us to see differently.

I talk a lot about contemplative practises, by which I mean ways we learn to slow down and see what is really in front of us. Gratitude is a contemplative practice because it helps us notice the gifts we are given.

We can practise gratitude with intention. This week try to notice, really notice a meal and be grateful. Notice what you are being grateful for: the sun, the rain, the soil, the seeds, the animals, those who worked the land, transported your food , those who cooked it, those gathered with you at table.

So much gift, the whole word in every mouthful.

Maybe this is what thank you reveals: none of us live our lives alone. We are woven together with so many other lives, each of us a thread in the fabric of this beautiful creation, each of us belonging.

This Thanksgiving may thank you become more than something we say. May it become the way we live.

Happy Thanksgiving!

William Brook