An Orientation Towards Gratitude on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving 2020 headlines were marked by loss, loneliness and deaths due to COVID. This is a different year with much to be grateful for.
Posted — UpdatedIt’s Thanksgiving and all over the country, millions, are traveling to gather with loved ones. Those who are hosting are busy with preparations.
It’s a very different year from last year. While numbers of COVID cases are rising in some parts of the country (Midwest), in many places, where vaccination rates continue to increase, there is less fear around spreading the disease to loved ones and more knowledge on ways to prevent doing so, while also gathering together.
Archibishop Desmond Tutu once said, “In South Africa, when you ask someone ‘how are you doing?’ the answer is always in the plural. A man may be fine, but his grandmother is sick, so he answers, ‘We are not well.’”
To orient my heart, I logged into an online live meditation group I started attending in the early days of the pandemic. What struck me when I found this group and even today is that while this group logs into Zoom from all over the world (this morning from Croatia, Botswana, Nigeria, the Yukon, Iran, Wales, Germany and multiple US states), we are all seeking the same thing: community and the tools that can help us generate a sense of peace within ourselves so that we can be present with whatever arises outside ourselves, be it a global pandemic or a spat with our spouse.
Joys and sorrows. Joys and sorrows. I know joys and sorrows are part of every life. Some years are abundant with joys, some feel rife with sorrows. Most often it is a mixed bag and we are holding both simultaneously.
Whatever the case in your family, here is wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving. May you find new ways to be together. May you glimpse gratitude and joy.
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