I am grateful. Grateful for the provisions of this day and for those of the past. At least, the provisions that I can remember! I rarely forget faces, but I am not that great when it comes to remembering things and places. Fortunately, I have a camera to record the events and can relive it later. When I look at the images, I can recall what I was feeling, what the weather was like, and the picture brings back memories. One Thanksgiving (about 15 years ago), we had the opportunity to visit some friends who had moved to Wales. Once I looked on a map and saw how close we were to Ireland, we left our friends after a short visit, then took a ferry over to Ireland.
We did not have that much time, but headed over to the western coast near Galway. As we got close to the Cliffs of Moher, this rock structure was in the middle of a field. I had never seen a dolman before and found this “mini Stonehenge” fascinating. As I began to set up the tripod and the panoramic view camera, a storm began to blow in. The skies grew dark and took on a dramatic appearance. That moment was such a gift and I will never forget it. The adrenaline was really pumping!
I love the writings of John Ortberg and read this selection earlier today after a friend emailed it to me. “Gratitude is the ability to experience life as a gift. It opens us up to wonder, delight and humility. It makes our hearts generous. It liberates us from the prison of self-preoccupation. Gratitude is not something we give to God so we make sure He knows, that we know, how much trouble He went to over us. Gratitude is more than that. It's the gift God gives us that enables us to be blessed by all His other gifts, the way our taste buds enable us to enjoy the gift of food. Without gratitude, our lives degenerate into envy, dissatisfaction, and complaints, taking what we have for granted and always wanting more."
May God richly bless you this Thanksgiving.
This image of Portal Dolman was created with a tripod mounted 6x17 panoramic view camera and medium format color transparency film.
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