We continue our reflection on thanksgiving.
We are grateful for the gift of life in particular: that which we experience consciously and that which we experience unconsciously. Again quoting Thomas Merton: "Unless we are grateful for our own existence, we do not know who we are, and we have not yet discovered what it really means to be and to live....The only value of our life is that it is a gift of God. Gratitude shows reverence to God in the way we make use of his gifts." 

Life if so precious and fragile. It is a gift we can take for granted rather than be in awe every morning we wake up alive. But besides our natural, human life, we are also blessed with the gift of sharing in the divine life of God, by God's grace and mercy. How conscious are we of this unseen reality of faith?

With the psalmist we proclaim: "Who are we that you should be mindful of us, or that you should care for us? You have made us little less than the angels, and crowned us with glory and honor. You have given us rule over the works of your hands, putting all things under our feet."