Sharing Gratitude in Adversity

Although it’s been two weeks since Hurricane Sandy blew ashore, there are still people without electricity, water and other life necessities. Others have lost their homes or summer homes; many more have lost the place where they spent happy weeks as children and adults, now that the boardwalks and beaches have washed away. I usually use November as a time to talk about gratitude, but in the wake of Sandy and her snowy cousin Athena, there are some who are not ready to be grateful.

So what do we do with this? How does one spend Thanksgiving Day when a home has been lost, feelings of resentment towards utility companies and governments abound, and kids are running around wearing other peoples’ cast off, though lovingly donated, clothing? How does one summon gratitude once the relief that your family made it out alive fades and you are faced with a dark, muddy mess?

I have no idea. I am sitting in front of my computer in my warm house, having taken a hot shower, and sipping fresh coffee – my imagination comes to a screeching halt when I go too far into thoughts of having lost everything. I can't even log onto my favorite websites without my cheat sheet of passwords; what would I do without anything I rely on daily?

Here’s my thought: Those of us who are warm and snug, well lit when the short day comes to an end, and thinking about Christmas trees and candles lit for beauty, not utility -- we need to step our gratefulness up a notch.

Gratitude is like prayer; it is a thought sent into the universe and spread over the Earth. Thank You doesn’t only land on the one who roasted the turkey; when the chef is thanked she is uplifted and in turn uplifts those around her. Thank You expands and grows and spreads like an aura and when we let the gratitude migrate from our brains to our hearts, it burgeons into a force that carries out into the world. We need to pinch-hit for those who are unable to internalize gratitude this season. And hope they never need to return that favor!

Please share!

"Fletcher" Thanksgiving Prayer

A Word for Our Sponsor

We gather, squished, around this table

With wine and turkey and mashed potato.

The kids squeeze their knees under tables too small

But that’s what we need to fit us all!

We’re thankful each year for our health and our food,

For our jobs and our Mom and our mostly tall brood.

We are grateful for love and for chocolate and pie.

We give thanks for our cats and the sun in the sky.

We are thankful for yoga and berries and shoes.

We’re grateful for gardens and road cleaning crews.

We are grateful for snow blowers, shovels and gloves.

We give thanks every month for the full moon above.

We like to go walking so thanks for fresh air.

We are grateful for rain and for weather that’s fair.

We give thanks for our poodles, retrievers and Sport,

We give thanks for whipped cream and warm apple torte.

We gather around and give thanks for this feast

For veggies and gravy; and last but not least

Our family so dear, so large and so hungry.

Thanks for bounty. Thanks for the plenty.

To Eat or Not to Eat; Is That Really a Question?

Admit it, you’re thinking a lot about food this week.  Turkey, pie, sandwiches, gravy, more pie if you’re fast.  Then cookies and boxed chocolates and Christmas ham and roast beast.  Canapes are next, along with celebratory glasses of champagne!  

Don’t worry, I’m not about to tell you to eat an apple before you head to the Thanksgiving table, or to fill your buffet plate first with salad so there’s not room for much else.  This is my only injunction:  Eat what you want with gratitude.  Gratitude for the chef, for the earth’s bounty, for electricity to run the oven.  Gratitude for the friends around you.  Gratitude for being here in the year 2011.  Pause and let feelings of gratefulness flow all around you like a warm mist.  

Enjoy every bite.  Close your eyes and say thanks.