Every day for the past several months I have spent time thinking and writing about things I am grateful for. It is great to be in communion with so many people around the United States who at least for this one day are thinking about what we are grateful for. It has been wonderful to see the various thoughts and expressions being posted on Facebook (one of my windows to the wider world).
The origins of American Thanksgiving are less harmonious than are depicted in some old pictures of pilgrims and Native Americans sitting together peacefully eating a meal. As with Columbus Day, many Native Americans mark Thanksgiving day with solemn ceremonies and mourning. Most people don’t really want to think about or be bummed out by examining the origins of this holiday which has such a wholesome, celebratory, peaceful image. And I’m not going to “ruin” things by talking about the origins. I am simply mindful that for some, Thanksgiving represents a more painful legacy and they mark this holiday very differently. May all beings be free from suffering and the root of suffering. May all beings know happiness and the root of happiness.
I am grateful today for so many many things. So I am going to offer simple gratitudes. First I am grateful that I woke up this morning of relatively sound mind and body. Though I have a few more creaks in my joints and aches and pains, I still have full mobility and use of my body. I am healthy and relatively strong and all of my senses are fully operational. May we all be healthy and strong in our bodies.
I am grateful to have a safe, secure, warm place in which to live and keep my possessions and that I have a well-functioning vehicle that transports me and my family to wherever we need to go. I am aware how much of a luxury and privilege it is to have a vehicle and to be able to afford to put fuel in it. I am aware how fortunate I am to live in a safe place. May we all be safe and protected from harm–internal and external–wherever we go in this world. I am grateful to be able to afford to feed myself and my children a healthy diet, that I have access to a wide variety of fresh and healthy foods. These are not things I take for granted, particularly as I work at the food pantry helping distribute food to clients who are struggling to feed their families. I am thankful for the clothes and shoes that keep me warm, clothed, and sometimes even fashionable.
Most important, I am so thankful for so many wonderful people in my life. For my siblings, Michaele, Sandy, Roland, Alan, and Ruth I am more grateful than I can say. They are loving, deeply caring and supportive in so many ways. They are funny, multitalented, and generous. We are each “there” for each other. When I’ve had needs, my siblings have stepped up, supported, and cared for me. I am likewise grateful for my siblings-in-law, most of whom I’ve known for the better part of my life. They are sisters and brothers to me as well. So many people in this world don’t have family that they can draw upon for comfort, love and support. I am blessed to have had loving parents and siblings and their families to whom I am deeply connected.
I am blessed to be mother two wonderful human beings. Jared Emmanuel Jones and Michal Terryce Chamblee Jones were entrusted to me by God 23 and 21 years ago. I am grateful for them every day. I teach them, learn from them, grow and love with them. They are becoming friends, as happens over time. I have written about them a number of times in this blog, but they are in fact a great blessing in my life. I love witnessing who they are becoming as they get out there and begin to make their marks in the world. I am hopeful for the world if it is increasingly populated with wise young beings like my children and many of the young people I’ve known and witnessed.
I am grateful for the friends who are like family to me: Pat and Marcus–friends for many, many years, and people like Mary and Roland who are newer but friends to whom I am happily connected. I have been blessed to have many friends scattered around the country and quite a few around the world. Some I am more closely and periodically connected, and others I haven’t been in touch with in some years. But I find that when I reach out just to say hello, they almost always connect right back. I am grateful to and for each of them and who they are and how they enrich my life.
Today is a day for celebrating the many blessings. I am grateful for many, many things, including YOU!
