Last night, Ty and I left the Dining Hall in the pitch darkness, and when we opened our front door we were accompanied inside by a Carolina wren. The reddish-brown bird had evidently been sheltering in the magnolia wreath on our front door, and now she perched, alert but unafraid, atop a painting of a lady’s slipper orchid in the front hall. Ty greeted her with reassuring words and ushered her gently out the front door.

It felt churlish to exile the wren into the cold night—especially in this season of welcome and gratitude. How fortunate are we to have a warm home to welcome others? How fortunate are we to love and be loved, to be welcomed into others’ warm homes in the darkening winter? Next week, many of us will gather in our own homes, or in others’—and for this, we should be grateful. Gathering to consider our many blessings is something we should do regularly, and not just at Thanksgiving.

At St. Andrew’s, we gather as a full community many, many times each week. Much of our culture flows from these occasions, because these gatherings perfectly reflect the kind of home we seek to be. Together, we give thanks at all five weekly family meals. Together, we say the Great Thanksgiving each Sunday during Eucharist. And every School Meeting starts those who wish to give “appreciations,” which are simply words of thanks for acts of service and kindness. In the building of community and purpose, the practice of gratitude is indispensable.

These daily expressions of gratitude have long been our habit, because we know that expressing gratitude is foundational to the moral formation of children. What child is not taught, early on, to say please and thank you? Social psychologists assert that gratitude deepens human bonds, promotes happiness, and fosters resilience and generosity—qualities that lie at the heart of the St. Andrew’s community and sustain the spirit of learning, service, and love that defines our school.

And so, as gray and cold as it was outdoors this morning, the Dining Hall was bright and boisterous; our students clearly intend to sprint joyfully into the Thanksgiving recess on Friday morning. This ebullience comes from our practice of gratitude, our commitment to welcome friends and strangers, our work to feed the hungry and keep company with those who are alone. In the words of the Great Thanksgiving, “It is a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere, to give thanks”—and so I will offer one more: At St. Andrew’s we are especially grateful for you, and we send all good wishes for a blessed Thanksgiving.