Word Root of gratitude: The Latin word gratus, meaning “pleasing” or “thankful,” gives us the root grat. Words from the Latin gratus have something to do with being pleasing or being thankful. To ingratiate yourself is to make others feel thankful for something you’ve done. To feel grateful is to feel thankful for something. Gratitude is a feeling of thankfulness. To congratulate is to express how pleasing someone’s success is.

Did you know that a hummingbird has a metabolism-roughly 100 times that of an elephant, and eats 1.5 to 3 times its body weight daily?

While greeting people prior to service this morning a hummingbird caught my eye as it zoomed by. It hovered over the roses; wings fluttering with blinding speed, its body perfectly still suspended in the air as it drank.

For that brief moment, a thousand fluttering images flashed through my mind. Images of the hundreds of volunteers it takes so that I might pause, safely suspended like that hummingbird, and drink in the silence.

A moment later we held the door for another family entering into the wonderful energy of Easter morning service.

For all of the people who made Easter service so wonderful, and for that hummingbird, I am grateful.