On Thursday, 28 November 2013, Americans come together as a nation to celebrate Thanksgiving Day: A time to give thanks for God’s benefits on our nation and in our lives. Giving thanks may be far from our thoughts as we continue to live in uncertain and difficult times. Several people I know are facing adversity.
I give thanks for dark days; only then am I able to appreciate all that is good.
I give thanks for helplessness; it forces me to find my strength.
I give thanks for defeat; I learn not to underestimate my opponent.
I give thanks when I am in need; I learn to receive from others with an open heart.
I give thanks for the times I fail; success becomes mine to savor.
I give thanks for my fears; only then can I be truly courageous.
I give thanks when despair clouds my vision of tomorrow; hope is born.
I give thanks for my loss; I learn to appreciate the people in my life.
I give thanks when I’m brought to my knees; therein lies the path to humility and compassion.
I give thanks for rejection and abandonment; I am filled with universal love.
Life abounds with duality. We cannot exist without the influence of the negative and positive forces of Nature. We have to accept the good with the bad. With birth comes death.
The consequences of the insatiable greed of the powerful, minority elite teach us the value of sharing wealth among all citizens. The destruction of our planet in our frenzy for more and more stuff teaches us what is truly important in our lives. Empires have risen and fallen. In refusing to learn from the lessons of the past, we rush headlong toward the abyss.
I give thanks for those individuals among us who risk their freedom and security to stand up to those in power in defense of humanity and the planet we all call home.
A generation goes, a generation comes, yet the earth stands firm for ever. The sun rises, the sun sets; then to its place it speeds and there it rises… What was will be again; what has been done will be done again; and there is nothing new under the sun. Take anything of which it may be said, ‘Look now, this is new’. Already, long before our time, it existed. Only no memory remains of earlier times, just as in times to come next year itself will not be remembered.
Ecclesiastes 1: 4 & 9-11
