how can i sync my google contacts with my address book in thunderbird 153 esr?

The internet doesn't know all - it certainly DOES work!

The screens you see may vary a little depending on the version, but on Thunderbird 153.5.0esr...

- Go to the Address Book tab (<Alt+2>)

- Click the "Add address book" icon.

- Choose either "Sync from and existing account" (best choice if your Gmail account is already set up) or "Add remote Address Book."

Follow the prompts - your address book will be added.

thanks Lin for your response but, when i follow your guidance, i see that the gmail account that syncs with my phone is 'greyed out' with '1 of 1' in the little box next to it...

I will guess that when you first set up your Gmail account you didn't explicitly give Google permission to share the Contacts with Thunderbird. Try Removing it and adding it back in. If all goes well, it should respect your existing Authorization settings and allow Thunderbird's Address Book to connect with Google Contacts.