The pilgrims who came in search of new life found hard going in this new world. They had little means for coping with the demands of the Americas, and had it not been for the kindness of the native population, they would surely have perished. Once they learned how to plant and work the soil, they experienced good harvest, and set out a tone of gratitude that we have continued to commemorate throughout the centuries. It is one major holiday in America where gifts are not expected. It is one time when we spend a day to appreciate what we do have rather than lusting after what we don't.
Yet, in Thanksgiving, there are many who feel disenfranchised, who look to the lack of family, poor health, lack of friendship, lack of the good things our country represents. It is to these that we must beam a light of understanding, for no matter what we have or do not have in our lives, the importance of thanks for giving is the gratitude we feel for life. The importance of being able to live in bodies and explore the depth of who we are at core is a major gift to us all. We are singular in form to polish the aspect that we represent in expression.
We are the result of our choices. We may not want to accept this when our choices have put us in positions that mirror lack or poor health. But if we are honest with ourselves and go back to the strands that have brought us to the current situation, we will see where we chose an experience that put pressure on us in some way to grow beyond the accepted idea of what we "should" be.
Instead of berating ourselves for "poor" choices, we can reorient our thinking. We can recognize that we are expressing aspects of life that don't necessarily conform to society's idea of what the good life is in order that we develop greater awareness, greater empathy, more compassion, and understanding about the heights and depths to which humanity can rise or fall. When we negate where we are through victimization or blaming others, we shortchange ourselves in the deepening of our character. The important factor here is that we always have the God given ability to make different choices. If we have experienced limitation, we can choose to create from that space in a way that will bring us liberation.
A prime example recently of someone who turned a tragedy into victory is Christopher Reeves. His classic accident while jumping in a horse show left him a paraplegic. Yet, because of the endurance of his faith in himself and in the help available to him, he is making a miraculous recovery. His example has strengthened others who face the same handicap. He is a visible hero who is making a difference. Sometimes, we sacrifice ourselves for the benefit of humanity. We might do that in small ways or large ways, but if God is in all things...we are expressing the goodness of God in adversity as well as in joyous times IF WE SO CHOOSE.
Humans as free will beings are co-creators. We have the capacity of utilizing our imagination for whatever we choose. We have minds that create our reality based on our choices. We may be handed a fortune, or handed nothing. But our capacity is to create or destroy from where we are. Not from the past; not from the future, but right now. We are like those pilgrims who arrived in a world unknown to them. They experienced the trials and errors of their choices. But with time, and by opening to the help that was given by others, they learned how to plant seeds that would yield the crops that they needed to survive. And through human ingenuity, they not only survived, they flourished.
So, too, us. We thank God for our lives. We thank God that we are finding our way from survival to flourishing. Life is not an endurance race. it is an experience of thanksgiving. And that means right here, right now, no matter in what condition we find ourselves. Our choices are continuously creating our reality, and from each stage we have an incredible opportunity to grow and deepen. When we choose to live gratefully, life presents possibilities that we haven't previously noticed, and help that we hadn't seen before.
Thanksgiving, therefore, is symbolic of much more than gathering with others. It is a gathering of ourselves to our Creator. It is the show of gratitude for everything we are and everything we have experienced. It is our salute to ourselves as pilgrims in a new land, moving through the hardships and being strengthened in the process. It is the bounty that represents our life experience, no matter what it looks like in the moment, AND the knowledge that we are planting the mental seeds right now that will affect the quality of our future!
Blessed Thanksgiving!
