Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving: 

it's an entire day devoted to being thankful, a remembrance of all that's been given by the grace of life and the things we've earned. I love the essence of Thanksgiving, what it represents beneath its growing material concerns - that there is reason, right now, for us all to be grateful. 

no mater how subtle the reason seems to be.

I remind myself of this each morning, starting each day of with a thank you to the universe at large. There was a time when I might have said this to God, but through the years the term has lost some meaning behind it, no longer having a devotional feel, and I simply feel more comfortable offering my devotion and gratitude to life. No one argues that we're alive and this alone is a reason to give thanks. So I acknowledge this, that I'm alive and by this virtue I am granted so much and with little effort given, an abundance of air for first conscious breath of the morning, the circulation of blood streaming through my veins, and the infinite things that cause my body to function with a sense of ease.

certainly I'm blessed. 

my day soon turns into a demonstration of these blessings, sitting in an easy posture for meditation, breathwork that wakes me fully for the day ahead, and then a salutation to the sun, not yet risen, but soon to light my day. I don't really need to invoke a sense of gratitude through any of this, it's already present in my motion, a continuous reminder of the grace of being alive. 

it's the most beautiful part of my day.

so it's the morning after a holiday as I write this, the recognized day of gratitude is over and a season of giving now begins. It's a seamless transition, from Thanksgiving to offering ourselves as service to the world. We are asked to give in the same grace as we've been gifted, a return of favors, and through this the coming days will indeed be holy. 

if only we remember. 

~

Peace, Eric