Thanksgiving Sonnet

Thanksgiving

by Malcolm Guite

Thanksgiving starts with thanks for mere survival,

Just to have made it through another year

With everyone still breathing. But we share

So much beyond the outer roads we travel;

Our interweavings on a deeper level,

The modes of life that souls alone can share,

The unguessed blessings of our being here,

The warp and weft that no one can unravel.

So I give thanks for our deep coinherence

Inwoven in the web of Gods own grace,

Pulling us through the grave and gate of death.

I thank him for the truth behind appearance,

I thank him for his light in every face,

I thank him for you all, with every breath

Coinherence was a new word to me and upon looking it up I learned that it is a term coined by Inkling, Charles Williams in his theological writings. I'm sure I have not fully grasped the concept but I think it has something to do with our human relationships bearing the image of the Trinity since we are created in God's image. A beautiful thought, really,  though I need to spend more time with this to make sure I'm grasping William's meaning. You can listen to this sonnet at Malcolm Guite's site.

Those with whom I am most tightly interwoven  are still breathing, and for that I give thanks. I am sobered by the knowledge that not all can give thanks for even mere survival, and my heart weighs heavy with the knowledge of so much strife, suffering, and death taking place in our region right now. Current hardships and tragedies in Jordan, Syria, Gaza, and Israel have me ruminating on John Donne's Meditation XVII :

"any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind..."

--and more--

and find some connection to Guite's sentiments of coinherence and interweaving, though I believe his focus is on a more intimate fellowship than with all our fellow man.

Our three eldest children will give thanks in three separate states tomorrow (Idaho, Illinois, and New Jersey), while Dear Husband, Tayta, and I will celebrate with a crowd of sixty hailing from at least fourteen different countries. This will be an interesting Thanksgiving dinner! As I celebrate with these friends I will remember to look for the light in every face, and to thank him for them with every breath.