I was asked to give a talk, the week before Thanksgiving, on . . . you guessed it, gratitude. I was grumpy about it. And I wanted to talk about my grumpies and my right to feel grumpy and not be tone-policed about my grumpiness. And how I can be grateful and grumpy at the same time. And that gratitude is much, much more than a rosy-cheeked smile on my face. But I’ve been taught well to happily accept all callings and “invitations” to speak, so I threw myself on my bed and shed a few tears and then got to work making sense of this complicated (to me) topic…

I am by nature grumpy and ungrateful, so this month of being reminded to give thanks is sometimes hard for me. My own deficiency in this regard has prompted me to notice wise things others have thought and said about why and how to be thankful. Here are three of my favorites: Messenger–by Mary Oliver My work is loving the world.Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird—equal seekers of sweetness.Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.Here the clam deep in the speckled sand. Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?Am I no longer young, and still half-perfect? Let mekeep my mind on what matters,which is my work, which is…

I live in a rural area in the American West. Last spring, our stake president talked about the severe drought conditions. He said the stake presidency and high council had discussed whether to call for a stake-wide fast to pray for rain. He wondered if it was selfish to ask others to pray for rain. He is a farmer, so would it be like asking everyone to pray that his business was successful? But then he remembered that people like to eat. He made me laugh. We all depend on farmers to eat. I am happy to want anyone working in agriculture to be tremendously successful. As they prayed and…

“The greatest thing is to give thanks for everything. He who has learned this knows what it means to live. He has penetrated the whole mystery of life: giving thanks for everything.” — Albert Schweitzer I’ve been thinking about my mother a lot this week. She died around this time of year, a few days after Thanksgiving, twenty years ago. She was only 69. Way too young to die. I still think of her almost every day, but especially during this season of Thanksgiving. My mother was the finest woman I have ever known. She was born in Manti, Utah on July 13, 1928, and grew up on a homestead…