Yes, Virginia: Thank You Notes are ALWAYS Appropriate!

I grew up in a family where gratitude was a primary value and "thank you notes" were practically a sacrament. The Christmas wrap would still be on the living room floor or the birthday cake still on the kitchen counter and my mother would have the cards and pen out for us to write our notes to Grandma in Minnesota or the neighbors down the street for whatever gift we had received we were grateful for.

Old habits are hard to break.

And so this morning -- full of gratitude for all the blessings of yesterday's amazing outpouring of prophetic witness and support for the upcoming Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) convention at All Saints Church -- I got my 21st century version of my Crane's Informal Notes out and sent the following email thank-you to Ryan Mauro* ... whose IRD sponsored article criticizing our relationship with MPAC kicked off the events of the week:

Dear Mr. Mauro,

With apologizes for the tardy reply to your email of December 4, I am sure you will understand that we have been unusually busy here at All Saints Church in response to the publicity about the upcoming MPAC Convention – generated at least in part by your online article. And for that I want to offer my deep and heartfelt thanks.

We knew that having the national convention of Muslim Public Affairs Council here at All Saints Church would be a beacon of hope to those who are yearning to believe that it is possible to move beyond polarization over differences into mobilization around shared values of love, justice and compassion shared by faithful Muslims and Christians around the world. However, drawing the attention of the media and the world to “good news” stories is, as I’m sure you know, a challenge. Thank you for helping us overcome that challenge and giving us a national platform for the message that we actually can be the change we want to see in the world. We are so very grateful!

With all best blessings for a Holy Advent and Joyous Christmas,
(The Reverend Canon) Susan Russell
Senior Associate, All Saints Church

Mother would be so proud!

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* Ryan Mauro is RadicalIslam.org's National Security Analyst and a fellow with the Clarion Fund. He is the founder of WorldThreats.com and is frequently interviewed on Fox News.