Scripture: Psalm 107

“Thank God for Christ Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. Thank God for our hope for things we cannot yet see. Thank God for love which knows no limits!” –Fruit of the Vine

Query: How are you thankful for God’s goodness?

Mother Tongue

She was there in the beginning. She licked my face

as I gathered spindly legs and lurched to my feet.

She nurtured me through the pastures of childhood,

under youth’s dark skies and into the dawning

of this day. A generous but imperfect gift,

an uneven mix of many family lines,

she gave me no smooth pedigree, but rather

the keys to a mysterious kingdom. As she

told me the stories, I learned to graze

on the words, to swallow them little

by little, to let them settle, digest.

They became part of my flesh, are today

part of my fleshing out as I move through spheres

of sound and silence, namer and poet,

participant in the world of all things.

–Nancy Thomas, Close to the Ground