Thanksgiving- The Days Will Vary…

A Series of Thoughts and Resources on Thanksgiving,                                                                            The meaning and value of gratitude; Ways to infuse                                                                               more meaning, appreciation, and gratitude in our lives

THANKSGIVING QUOTES AND REFLECTIONS

Notice, that the more you become a connoisseur of gratitude, the less you are a victim of resentment, depression, or despair. Gratitude can transform us into being generous and loving beings… The sense of gratitude produces a genuine alchemy- a change of heart that is good for the largeness of one’s soul. …   

Sam Keen

Giving Thanks” adapted from A Native American Blessing

Let us not forget that there would be no Pilgrim holiday, no Thanksgiving in North American culture, if it were not for the Native Americans. From the story and myth of the first Thanksgiving, we are told of a coming together of Native Americans and Pilgrims from Europe; how they put aside cultural differences, their religious prejudices, and any fear of the unknown or any xenophobia, and they sat down to eat together, thereby practicing interfaith hospitality, cooperation, and peace.

It is out of respect for the Native Americans, that I now offer this Offertory prayer:

Let us, for this moment, become aware of the beauty of our lives, and the grace that attends to beauty…. Grandfather, we are thankful for the gifts of the Sun, and Grandmother, for the gifts of the Earth. We give thanks for the times of meaning, the times of purposes, our times together.

Let us reflect on our struggles and how they have enabled and ennobled our growth; If we but shut our eyes, even for a moment, we can awaken to wonder; And then we see with new eyes, the land, the sea, the creatures, one another.

 And if we can feel a sense of gratitude, may that grace will grow corn in our hearts, then we know beauty, then we know you, O Great Spirit … “[Ah Ho Matake Owassion}” We are all connected to the earth- We are all relations…

A Composite Spiritual Prayer

Life consists of daily and lifelong blessings… How could we exist without the favor, the kindness and the gifts of everyday life that God bestows on us? Even when we fail to recognize it clearly, how could we exist for even a day, a night, an hour of the next moment without God?

As the Suras teach us, God is closer to us than our jugular vein, and there is a Pakistani prayer that speaks of how we owe our very existence to God’s grace. The oldest book in Hebrew writings, Job, declares that it is the Spirit of the Almighty that gives us life, and as Solomon advises, it is wisdom that teaches us humility, reverence, and thanksgiving…

In The Bhagavad Gita, we are given our assurances:

Those that seek Me, will see me; they will see Me everywhere… So it is, that I will never be out of sight, out of touch… I will always be nearby… I will never lose my hold, even when you feel that difficulties in your life make you feel as if you had let go.

The Early Christian Coptic Church also recognized our need for one another; and the gratitude that can be found in belonging to a group that honors the God of many names. For a community does not exist without a sense of mutual respect, and a sense mutual gratitude for being together.

St. Cyril writes:

The blessings of God rest upon all those who have been kind, upon all those who care about their sisters and brothers in their faith, and on those who seem to live outside faith’s door. The blessings of God extend themselves from every kind heart-towards those who serve God from many faiths, many directions.

So as we gather today, we ask our merciful God, to reward their faithfulness and compassion as living proof, that we understand their holy books, and that we are growing in our understanding of You. AMEN

PEL

A grateful attitude is a creative one, because, in the final analysis, opportunity is the gift within the gift of every moment– the opportunity to see and to hear and smell and touch and taste with pleasure. There is no closer bond than the one that gratefulness celebrates-the bond between the giver and the thanksgiver. Everything is a gift! Grateful living is a celebration of the universal give-and-take of life, a limitless yes to belonging.