THANKSGIVING THOUGHTS
By =Lorna Anne
Thanksgiving is a holiday filled with tasty home-cooked treats, family and friends coming together, and a sharing of all the bounty that the earth provides. It is filled with good times, relaxation and relief from daily routine.
In the enthusiasm of this holiday that tends to say,”Let yourself go! Eat as much as you want and celebrate the harvest”, many times our thinking stays within our stomachs. There’s nothing wrong with a good party, for sure, or even over-indulgence occasionally; but in a culture that is obsessed with material goods and “having”, the deeper meaning of what this holiday stands for may be overlooked.
Being grateful and appreciative for what has been given seems to be fading from our world. A sense of entitlement pervades, as if we should be owed certain things without working for them, just because we exist. Life is a gift, as well as liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and those gifts can be taken away.
For those individuals who crave more and more, just to have it, even at the expense of others, they are motivated by a paranoia that what they have may be taken away; therefore, they think they must accumulate as much as possible, despite the effects it has upon others and their world. Those who have excess do not value it. If they value anything, it is power, which they think comes with having a lot.
Those who have lived with very little understand the intrinsic value of even the smallest things in life. Values must be taught. They do not come naturally. Deprivation – extreme circumstances that take away all that is important, except life itself,, is a great teacher and a blessing in disguise. There are those who value money and possessions even more than their lives. The stock market crash back in the ’30’s caused people to commit suicide, jumping out of windows because they lost their material fortunes.
It may not be a perfect world, but that is to teach us tolerance and to make us realize we must work to change it. This Thanksgiving be appreciative of having the most valuable possession of all –Life! The food that sustains us is not the be-all, end-all; it is the means to our existence.
This coming year, why not make Thanksgiving a daily holiday and be grateful for the gifts that don’t have a money sign attached, or only satiate the physical urges. Be grateful for the intangibles: life, love, liberty, and the kindness of others. Cherish them by appreciating their importance. Why? Because the Universe owes you nothing!
###
wise lorna 