On thanksgiving we remember that there are oodles of things to be grateful and thankful for in life.
Little Things.
Big Things.
Organized Important Things.
Random Everyday common Things.
Practical Things.
Unusual Things.
Exciting Things.
Boring Things.
Fun Things
Such as…
1. Words that are fun to say.
“Oodles of noodles help blue poodles mit der strudel.”
— Berkeley Breathed (Bloom County Babylon: Five Years of Basic Naughtiness)
Words are what I use in my everyday speech and in my blog posts, so it’s good to have oodles of unique and common words such as oodles to use. God made a big, beautiful world which is chock full with oodles of interesting, fascinating things. Such as the many varieties of well imagined crafted creatures such as
2. Penguins
“I am reading a book called Antarctic Adventures. It is very interesting. It tells all about the different people who have gone to the South Pole and what they have found there. I think the nicest part of all is the penguins. They are the funniest birds in the world. They don’t fly like other birds. They walk erect like little men. When they get tired of walking they just lie down on their stomachs and slide. It would be very nice to have one for a pet. It’s a queer thing that all the polar bears live at the North Pole and all the penguins at the South Pole. I should think the penguins would like the North Pole, too, if they only knew how to get there.”
-Mr. Popper’s Penguins (1938) by Richard Atwater
Penguins live in a cold isolated place at the end of the world surrounded by this wonderful weather phenomenon known as
3. Snow
“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.”
— Lewis Carroll (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass)
Snow-covered spruces (Picea abies) in Valtavaara, Kuusamo, Northern Finland
God created the natural wonder of the wintery world and also granted the humans created in his likeness and image to create things and places such as
4. Cathedrals
where you can be surrounded by the beauty of God that helps you contemplate the truth of God while reflecting on the goodness of God.
“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.”
— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (The Little Prince)
This is the Uspenski Cathedral in Helsinki, Finland, and main cathedral of the Orthodox Church of Finland, dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos (the Virgin Mary). Its name comes from the Old Church Slavonic word uspenie, which denotes the Dormition. It is the largest Orthodox church in both Northern and Western Europe. -Wikipedia
And it is dedicated to the most extraordinary human person who ever lived because she carried within her the most extraordinary divine person who took on human flesh. She is the
5. Mary The Mother of God
And at this day, the blessedness brought to us by Christ cannot be the subject of our praise, without reminding us, at the same time, of the distinguished honor which God was pleased to bestow on Mary, in making her the mother of his Only Begotten Son.
– John Calvin, Commentary on Luke 1:42
Since Mary is Jesus’ mother, it must be concluded that she is also the Mother of God: If Mary is the mother of Jesus, and if Jesus is God, then Mary is the Mother of God. There is no way out of this logical syllogism. – What the Early Church Believed: Mary is the Mother of God | Catholic Answers Tract
The mother of God has often left heaven to interact with the world we currently live in. She has appeared to various individuals some who were canonized as
6. Saints
such as St Bernadette Soubirous. In 1943 actor Jennifer Jones portrayed her in the film The Song of Bernadette.
The movie was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won 3 including Best Actress for Jennifer Jones as the beloved saintly visionary. It also won 3 awards at the first Golden Globes awards including once again Best Actress in a Leading Role as well as best director and best picture. Once upon a time Catholics and other Christians were portrayed beautifully in the arts in high quality movies. That tradition continues today with the high standard production excellence of
7. The Chosen.
One example of how good The Chosen is, is that it brings a sense of mystery and awe to a story that you already know how it is going to end by giving us imaginative creative details that fill in the gap you may have possibly pondered about with the overall arching thought of ‘I wonder what happen when Jesus and the apostles did such and such.” We happen to have had the privilege of going to more than one screening of different episodes in which a priest shows us a particular episode and we then discuss the catechetical and biblical lessons we can take from it.
This compilation reminds us that Christians can be religious and have a sense of fun. Such as two of most canonized Catholic Saints.
8. St. Carlo and St. Pier
Saints remind us that we can give ourselves completely over to God. There have been great saints over the years both now and way back then such as the first millennial Saint
who played video games and loved Jesus in the Eucharist and was canonized with another young man of faith
who climbed mountains and loved Jesus in the Eucharist. Which brings us to
9. The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
“Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament … There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth.”
— J.R.R. Tolkien (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien)
This quote about the Eucharist comes from one of the bestselling fantasy authors of the 20th century who just happen to be a Catholic. He called the crafting of fantasy worlds sub-creation. It is part of the gift of
10. Imagination
Imagination is put into all of God’s creation.
Imagination is put into man’s sub-creation.
This consists of anything man creates such as toys, games, architecture, or culinary items such as candy that would be made in a chocolate factory.
Things such as
11. Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles
that come from Ireland. Which is where my father in-law comes from, which means my wife is very Irish. And that brings us to grateful thing #
12. My Wife Kristin.
It’s nice to live and grow old with your best friend.
She is my companion on the journey.
There are so many more things I could add to this list in greater detail.
- Kangaroos – Another unique animal from the land down under.
- AI Video Sora– It allow me to make creative videos like the one above.
- Pie fights – Which is the 2nd best thing you can do with a pie that nourishes the soul with laughter.
- Libraries -Which hold the books I’ve quoted from in this article.
- Music – Such as Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss which was first performed on November 27, back in 1896. It was famously used in Stanley Kubrick‘s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. And also, music you can sing and dance to such as this original novelty thanksgiving song by the Holderness Family.
- Trivia – Trivial gives you interesting nuggets for your brain to chew on such as that in New York City on November 27, 1924, the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was held.
- My blanket -Kristin gave me this blanket for Christmas one year when she worked at the shoe star at the start of our marriage. It reminds me of my baby blanket my mother took away from me before I went to college.
- Art – Such as Jennie Augusta Brownscombe‘s 1914 portrait, The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth, which is now on display at Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts and is the picture at the top of this article.
- People who work for Peace– On November 27, 1895 At the Swedish–Norwegian Club in Paris, Alfred Nobel signs his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he dies.
- Martial Arts– The day this article is published just happens to be Action Star Bruce Lee‘s (November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) birthday.
- The ability to have a blog to write these thoughts.
- The computer in which I type these thoughts.
- Quotations- Which is what I used a lot of in this post.
And many more things.
But Kristin doesn’t like to read posts that are too long, which is why I set the bar to 12 and not 25 in 2025. Well 12 expanded but not in detail I guess I snuck in 25 after all.
Be grateful for all the things in your life that you have because all the good that God allows you to experience, all the beauty that God allows you to see and all the truth that God allows you to know and believe can only be repaid with gratitude.
“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”
— A.A. Milne (Winnie-the-Pooh (Winnie-the-Pooh, #1))
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