Happy Thanksgiving, all.
I never "pray", never ask for an outcome. I give thanks repeatedly, all day, every day. I don't take a position on what entity might receive my thanks, but I think gratitude is valuable. Precious, even.

There was a time in my life when I made a conscious effort to believe in the God of the Bible. I was raised in a Christian, not Evangelical, household. It "came with the mother's milk," but was not a considered belief. Just a given environment. Calm, modest, not raving loonies.

3. In my 40s I realized that, in terms of lifeways, practices, technology, and community, the Amish were right and the whole rest of the country - my people - were wrong.
But you have to believe in a particular Biblical teaching, God, Jesus, salvation, Heaven and Hell.
I tried.

4. I will never forget the last time I ever prayed for something.
I prayed, fervently, for all I was worth, for the life of an orphan calf in my kitchen.
I didn't make any money on these few cattle. It wasn't for my benefit. It was for this lanky red calf. His life.

5. He died.
I know all the rationale. I've heard all the homilies. I know "sometimes the answer is no."
It doesn't matter. Something inside of me died with that red calf. The ability to believe in a certain relationship between humankind and almighty reality, God by one name.

6. I think often on the unknowable mysteries of that which cannot be seen. Who lit the big bang? What difference, Big Bang or "Let there be light." Science says, grant me one miracle and I will explain the rest.
But I, personally, do not pray.
I give thanks every day. All day.

7. I still find certain wisdom in the tales and teachings of the ancient book which I have come to view as the oral history of the agricultural revolution. Some wisdom transcends fact; the stories we tell have their own value.
But I don't "believe."

8. I give thanks this morning. The sun is up. My donkeys are well. The give me affection and work, I give them affection and work. I have one human to love who loves me in return. I have a chihuahua sleeping on my lap. Life is good.
Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.