Snow on the Peaks!
The power of giving thanks gives life its vitality! The power of giving thanks comes through your awareness that you are always in a position to receive all the elements the Universe has to offer. Everything is available to you. Gregge Tiffen (The Power of Giving Thanks, November 2007)
As I do most every morning, I felt grateful when I woke (being ‘woke’ seems a good thing!) this day before Thanksgiving here in the U.S. Accompanying Zadie Byrd outside at dawn, my gratitude deepened upon hearing two Great Horned Owls calling to one another deep in the woods. Who … who, who … hoot. I am so very grateful to be in this beautiful place.
A bit later, heading out for our morning walk, I looked up to find the sky to be a crisscross of chem trails. What? Who? Why do we do this, I wonder, anger rising. I need a few moments to breathe and return to gratitude.
I was reminded of a conversation yesterday with a friend as we were sharing the attention required to navigate life in this time of chaos, a time when we feel challenged to hold our center, our peace amidst war, cruelty, starvation, and other human experiences. She spoke of a teacher who once told her, “… care, and don’t allow your care to disturb your deep peace.” Sometimes easier said than done. Gratitude is a practice that helps clear the path.
Today, the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, has me remembering the classroom I was in when the announcement came over the crackling speaker that connected our room to the school office. I was shaken not just by the announcement but also by the teacher’s inappropriate chuckle and muttered words that sounded something like ‘he deserved it’. Little did I know that her muttered response was a harbinger of more and visible divisiveness to come.
This morning as I read the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address, Greetings to the Natural World I reflected once again that, while it is good to have a special day to give thanks, the irony of Thanksgiving’s origins in this country deserves us to pause for thoughtful consideration. As you give thanks, I’ll leave that consideration to your heart and soul. I’m grateful that as a society we are beginning to acknowledge, understand, and hopefully, move beyond the dark choices that haunt our past.
Despite the disgust and sadness I feel for the atrocities we force upon one another and on our dear planet, I’m grateful for this life and for the opportunities to learn and grow that are ever present. Despite the irony of the holiday’s origins, I celebrate, grateful for my conviction that, despite history and the current chaos and cruelty worldwide, justice and light will prevail.
Several years back, sitting quietly by the fire on a cold morning, I began to write in my journal. The words that came surprised me and took me to an unexpected place: gratitude for being me. As I ease into Thanksgiving Day 2023, I remember all that I’m grateful for and my words then inspire my prayer of thanks for 2023:
I’m grateful for how I live my life, the choices I make, the insight and curiosity I experience, my love of quiet and of Nature’s beauty. I’m grateful that I take reasonably good care of myself. I’m grateful that I take time to ease into the day and enjoy the morning quiet. I’m grateful for introspection and for how I see the world unfolding perfectly in this human experiment despite events that are horrific beyond my understanding. I’m grateful for this year’s events and for those individuals whose actions continue to challenge me to hold this light.
I’m grateful for all the beings who are holding light in the midst of darkness.
I’m grateful for the challenges and changes this year has thrust upon me personally and on all of us as a community of humans. I’m grateful for the experience of abundance and that I’m able to share in my community and beyond. I’m grateful for those in my community and beyond toil daily to produce nutritious food and enrich the soil.
I remain grateful for nine years with Cool Hand Luke Skywalker and for all that he taught me about patience, forgiveness, rest, play, listening and so much more. His ongoing presence reminds me that life is a continuum not a finite event. I’m grateful for Zadie Byrd carrying the torch of being my canine companion and teacher. Her sweet presence in my life is a constant blessing that grows each year.
I’m grateful for how I’ve faced the challenges in my life, even those where in hindsight I saw a different way for me to be. Each offered a gift, and I did my best to accept it.
This year I’m especially grateful that I enjoy my own company as well as the company of others. Both are so very important, yet we humans so very often shun being alone for fear of being lonely, forgetting that in our aloneness we hear Your voice and feel Your presence.
Thank You for always being with me/in me. Thank YOU for allowing and guiding me to be me. I feel so close You, God, in these quiet moments and I am so very grateful.
When we give thanks for being who we are, we tap into the vitality of life. Wherever this week finds you, may you feel a depth of gratitude that goes deeper and further than any you have felt in your past.
May CHEERFUL Be Your Way!