Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving or Gratitude?
We all know the meaning of Thanksgiving.
We don’t need to hear it again, and yet, if we
were to stretch our minds we might get curious about
this concept of gratitude itself. It’s suggested
that we all feel it on November 25th and many of us
will indeed be grateful for that painstakingly prepared,
delicious meal and the opportunity to gather with loved
ones. But are we so bereft of gratitude and thanks
giving that we need to set aside a day on November
25th to remember it?
Consider the concept of prayer, the asking and the thanking God for the gift
He, She or It, depending upon your perspective, bestows upon us. It seems to
me these rituals create yet another sense of separation and foster a lack of
gratitude rather than empower it. In this sense, gratitude usually becomes the
thing we feel after we have asked for and gotten a prayer answered – now
and then.
Isn’t real gratitude something you feel all the time? And if it is, how
can one best express gratitude for this life and all that it provides for us?
It seems to me, the words gratitude and grace are synonymous. Albert Schweitzer
said. “You must learn to understand the secret of gratitude. It is more
than just so-called virtue. It is revealed to you as a mysterious law of existence.” In
other words, it’s how you live your life.
Brother David Steindl Rast says, “We grow in love when we grow in gratefulness.
And we grow in gratefulness when we grow in love. Here is the link between the
two: thanksgiving pivots on our willingness to go beyond our independence and
to accept the give-and-take between giver and thanks giver. But the "yes" which
acknowledges our interdependence is the very "yes" to belonging, the "yes" of
love. Every time we say a simple "thank you," and mean it, we practice
that inner gesture of "yes." And the more we practice it the easier
it becomes. “ Feeling gratitude and thanksgiving are in essence the act
of saying YES to life.
Yes, to loving fully and without limit. Yes, to having a grace-filled life of
comfort serenity. Yes, to spiritual growth, personal responsibility and waking
up. Yes, to acknowledging the value and right of every human being to exist in
safety and peace. Yes, to the equality of every individual. Yes to joy and abundance.
Yes to aliveness and
all things that support us on our path to enlightenment. Yes to life itself.
This Thanksgiving, consider the level of your yes-ness to life. Are you letting
life in, embracing it fully and giving at least as much back as you are getting?
As Rabbi Harold Kushner says “Can you see the holiness in those things
you take for granted--a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on
finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will
suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul. “
Or, are you holding life and love back at an arms length, waiting to enjoy it
until you have accumulated enough, found the right life mate, look good enough,
have accomplished enough, worked hard enough or something-else-enough?
Now is the opportune time to fall in love with your life and the priceless blessings
in it. Now is the time to embrace your friends, your partner and your family
and remind them how precious they are to you. Now is the time to watch a sunset,
smell a flower and remember that your next breath is a gift - an incredible opportunity
to experience aliveness. Don’t miss the whole reason for this journey.
Don’t miss the gift while waiting for its arrival. We wish you an incredible
day of yes-ness.
Arizona Together
November 2004
Dr. Dina Evan
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