Thank

On my walk this morning I came across four deer.  Two bolted immediately.  The other two stood and looked at me for a long while.  I stood still, as well, and finally reached into my pocket for my camera.  By then they seemed to be conferring about whether to run.  They did.  I was grateful to them for standing still so long and grateful to God for letting me live in a place where such encounters are possible. 
Since this Sunday's readings are about thanking, I've been trying to go deeper into the meaning of "thank."  "Grateful" and "gratitude" help, but it's as difficult as trying to get this picture of the deer clear.  It's  related to "think."  We think of something given to us or done for us and thank the person for it.
One definition in the Oxford English Dictionary says, "kindly thought or feeling entertained towards anyone for favor or services received."  I think of the feeling that I had towards the deer and then towards God.  The impulse to thank is so strong that the leper in the first reading (2 Kings 5) and the one in the Gospel return to give thanks.  We are coming into a time of year when even primitive people thanked their gods for harvest.
Yet we know that sometimes we do not give thanks.  We see in the Gospel that nine did not return to thank Jesus.  Maybe as we grow more sensitive to how freely another person or God has acted, how undeserved their favor is, we will feel more grateful and be moved to give thanks.
The mystic, Meister Eckhart said, "If the only prayer we ever say in our lives is 'Thank You,' that will be enough."