DUKES
FANS:
“If the only prayer you said was, “Thank you”, that
would be enough.”
Meister Eckhart
“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart,
it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”
“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have
not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped
for.”
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of
the year. This holiday is all about things that really please me: good food,
being around people in a joyful and happy setting, reflection, and expressing
gratitude for what I have and for where I am in my life. The relative lack of
advertising and the tiny focus on what to buy when compared to Christmas gives
me an opportunity to focus more on the day itself and to think about what the
holiday is supposed to mean. In that light, I get a chance to look beyond
myself and to acknowledge all the people, things and circumstances that are a
part of my life that I had little, if anything, to do with. Particularly given
the changes in my life over the last year and a half, I am incredibly aware of
the value and wonder of family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Yes, we
have disagreements, and yes, we do not always see eye to eye. But this day,
Thanksgiving, is one day for me to join with many other people to formally
acknowledge and embrace the fact that without them my life would not be as
rich, as joyous or as full as it is. And how and why it happens as it does is
something that is in many ways beyond me.
This "giving of thanks" has always been a human and universal thing;
it is probably a human need. It has happened in every part of the world, in
every culture, and at all times. Throughout the centuries this giving of thanks
has always involved some acknowledgement of forces outside of ourselves and
expressed through public and group acknowledgment. Will the crops have a good
season of growth? How high would the river be this year? When would the rain
come? When and where will the next herd pass by? When would the heat come? Or
go? Or stop? Will there be enough to eat? When would the war stop? These were
all things that mattered to us, and we asked for help as a group and also
expressed gratitude the same way. We know that these are not things that humans
control all by ourselves, and we need the help of other people and other
forces. We can get away from that somewhat in a modern civilization such as
ours, as most of us are generally not so directly faced with struggles for the
basics of life-food, shelter, etc. So it is good that we have at least one
occasion when we can take a wider and broader look at ourselves and our lives
and see the importance of family (by birth or chosen), and friendship. And for
most of us it also involves an awareness of happenstance and/or some type of
spirit or spirits. This is what we observe and celebrate when we observe
Thanksgiving.
Of course, it can be hard to hold on to
that feeling in our civilization. We have been bombarded for several weeks now
with advertisements for “Black Friday’ and “Cyber Monday” sales. Commerce is
and always has been a key part of civilization, and the post-Thanksgiving time
period is awash in sales, offers, and “special deals.” The time
after the traditional autumn thanksgivings has always been the “get ready for
winter” time. After the 1924 debut of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade this time
became became the start of our “get ready for winter shopping time.” This
became the time period when many retailers started turning a profit and going
into the “black” and out of the red in accountant’s terms. Thus, the first day
of the winter shopping season became known as “Black Friday, and it continues
to be one of the biggest business days of the year. “Cyber Monday” came into
being in 2005 as a marketing company’s idea to build online business. It has
been very successful, taking in nearly 8 billion dollars last year. This
seasonal urge to spend is quite powerful in our culture; this move past
gratitude into commerce will be a part of our culture for years to come.
There is
a way to extend that feeling of gratitude, though, even in the midst of so much
commerce. Due in part to year end concerns about tax deductions, about 50% of
all charity giving occurs in the last three months of the year. This led to the
creation of “Giving Tuesday,” a day of donations to fund good, charitable
causes following Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The founders wanted people to
focus on extending the feeling of gratitude by following a weekend shopping
spree with giving to help others and/or support good causes. The idea quickly
took off, and it is now an international movement. It even has its own
website- https://www.givingtuesday.org/ which
serves as a conduit to connect groups, causes, organizations and individuals.
The website has history, tools to get organized, and connections to local
movements from around the world. So that feeling of gratitude and giving can go
on beyond Thursday, co -existing with the shopping frenzy.
I wish all of you a fun,
thoughtful, comfortable and delicious Thanksgiving however you celebrate the
holiday. I hope that you get the chance to
reflect on people, situations and things for which you can be truly thankful.
Even if things are tough, we all have some things, people, memories, and/ or
moments for which we can be grateful. Here's hoping we can slow down enough to
really acknowledge those things and to discover the quiet pleasure and joy in
giving thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment