Happy Thanksgiving

Turkeys at Steve Magin's cabin

Today is a day to be thankful for all that is.  This kind of unfettered gratitude allows us to stop trying to control outcomes.  It is the key that unlocks positive energy in our lives.  It turns problems into blessings and challenges into gifts.  Thanksgiving has the potential to fill us with happy memories of friends, family and loved ones.  We have the opportunity to create space for true gratitude.  Worry, cynicism, greed and apathy can be set aside at least for 24 hours.  

There is great spiritual wisdom embedded in this tradition of Thanksgiving.  We slow enough down to realize that time is more precious and scarce than all of the material things that we seem to cherish, run after and covet.  There is a light of hope that shines as we affirm all that is good in our lives.  Be joyful as we all gather around our tables.  It is a chance for renewal.  You are loved.

Independence Day ~ Coming Home

Joan French Home in Peoria

There are so many good memories that surround the 4th of July that it has the feeling of coming back home.  We take time off from work-a-day life in anticipation of something spectacular.  Families gathering at reunions, grills firing up, baseball games, trips to national parks, vacations and picnics are just some of the activities that surround our national birthday celebration.  The fireworks from Washington, DC to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Peoria, Illinois, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and San Francisco, California spread "the rockets red glare" across the skies of America.

2009 Fireworks in Peoria, Illinois

The nostalgic sense of coming back happens regardless of the things that we do on Independence Day.   We leave home in one way or another by pursing our dreams and fortunes.  We go out on our own, fulfilling obligations, succeeding and failing in our many endeavors.  This process does not require moving or running away from where we are born. It happens even when we stay put in the place of our birth. There comes a longing for home, that which we have experienced in the distant and not-so-distant past. We want to be welcomed by loved ones without a need for explanations or excuses. We want to be honored guests at a party that are embraced by the happiness of being seen again. Much of this seems to be realized and gained on the Fourth of July.

I was in Peoria, Illinois last year among my extended Jones family. All of the first cousins and many of their spouses, children and grandchildren came together for a reunion in celebration of our eldest cousin’s 80th birthday. There was a steam boat trip up the Illinois River, big parties, a trip to the Wildlife Prairie Park, fireworks and little gatherings of kinfolk for several days. It reminded me of what is really important. I had the undeniable sense of being home even though Peoria was never a place where I lived.

Wildlife Prairie Park

We have much for which to be thankful. The founders of our country set up a dynamic system of freedom that allows us to have such strong feelings of home, connection and patriotism. There is no other place on earth that has such a celebration.  Disgruntled people on the extreme right or left of the political spectrum can put aside their quarrels with the knowledge that our virtues far outweigh our shortcomings. It is the most exceptional culture and form of government that has ever been. We should never take it for granted. It is our country. We are welcomed back home from sea to shining sea every 4th of July.

French Family at Peoria Reunion

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time for family and friends. It elicits memories through smells and familiar surroundings. We bring out traditional items that only appear at this time of the year. We set our expectations on something wonderful. We anticipate goodness and abundance. It is a great time to write a gratitude list, call family members who are far away on the phone, and celebrate who we are. Thank you for this holiday.

Thank you for my parents and grandparents, uncles and aunts. They were such great people. It seems like everything they did had a spirit of kindness and generosity. Holidays were always fun. There was a sense of happiness in the air mixed with the aroma of roasting turkey and clinking glasses.

Thank you for my wife. She is my rock and my love. Her faith in me, abiding affection, and her good nature has given me the ability to live, serve others, and celebrate life. None of my successes would have been possible without her. There is none with a better heart.

Thank you for my children. They are a continual source of pride. We are not near one another, but I feel their presence every single day. Their life journeys are inspiring. I never get enough of them. I love all three of them more today than they will ever guess.

Thank you for my huge family. My brother and sister who are gone but remembered with great affection.  My dear cousins who gathered in Peoria this year, my nephews and niece with their children and grandchildren, all of those with whom I am in touch and those who are more distant. I cannot begin to express the happiness that they have brought to me.

Thank you for my friends. My dear loyal friends from boyhood are still a part of my life. We seem to be as connected, albeit with miles between us, as we were when we were kids. They have been another family for me. My new friends are a blessing as well. Steadfast, welcoming and accepting, my friends are always there.

Thank you for my work and for my co-workers. We engage in a difficult but rewarding vocation. Let us never forget to be equally thankful for those that we serve. The truth is that they are the rich blessing in our lives.

Thank you for this life. It is good. It is marvelous. Thank you, God.

Gratefulness And A Plea For Assistance

George Bernard Shaw once said that “Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” There is a bright light that burns in each of us. The problem is that most of the time we seem to hide it, extinguish it or diminish it. Fear, loneliness, shame, anger and sadness have such pervasive effects on our daily lives that we fail to comprehend the joy of the present moment. The antidote is gratefulness. Fear and the other negative feelings cannot endure in the light of gratitude.

The simple task of composing a list of blessings is a practice that will help reframe and shape the reality of our day. Record things such as the joys of good health, family members, loyal friends, a job and the comfort of home. What other things can we add? It is important to look around at our surroundings and beyond. Let the list grow over the days by reviewing it each morning. We begin to see the abundance of our lives in pretty short order. It is then that we can really begin to let the torch burn brightly. It is then that we can share our lives with enthusiasm.

A cousin of mine, Lee Fisher, presented me with an opportunity to share abundance. His daughter, Susan, is married with two little boys, Luke age 9 and Levi age 4. Jerry, the husband and father, is a terrific guy who has been struggling with compromised kidney function. His blood is type A- and he is in need of a live donor for a transplant. Susan needs her husband and Luke and Levi need their daddy. You can save a family by contacting the Live Donor coordinator at the University of Indiana Hospital Transplant Department at 1-800-382-4602. Just mention Jerry Rasberry's name. What a gift you could give. Please pass this on. Among my many blessings...I am grateful for your kindness.