Last week, November began with shorter days and longer nights, signifying a shifting momentum, heighten by Holy Days (All Saints' Day and Día de los Muertos) and America's election intensity. The month's end will culminate in Thanksgiving weekend. The weeks in between give us the opportunity to gage our gratitude through our inner life, in preparation for the shared, outer exchange of Thanksgiving Day. This Tuesday is the collective recognition of Veteran's Day and points us to gratitude to all those who have served America in the United States military, living or deceased, in times of war, as well as times of peace.
It may seem strange to consider the Military in a post on spiritual gratitude, especially in a time when, in opposition to elected state leadership, the national guard has been activated within several American cities. But this post is not about the political fight, and it is not in gratitude for the Military as a "force". Rather, it is about gratitude to individuals, men and women, often unnamed by us, dating as far back as the America revolution, those who have given, or now give of their skills, time, beliefs, and even lives, to bring aid and peace to the country and the world.
If you personally cannot give your gratitude, consider on Veteran's Day, giving your forgiveness. As Norman Vincent Peale taught, gratitude and forgiveness are two sides to one "coin". Gratitude and Forgiveness, heal both the giver and the receiver.
This week also is an opportunity to spread gratitude to volunteers. Right before Halloween, I ordered "candy-gram"cards to be delivered on Halloween to a grandchild's first grade class. It was a school fundraiser to finance the 5th grader's year-end project. Because I sent a last minute form, I ended up in a text exchange with one of the room mothers overseeing the cards and deliveries. She answered my text after 9 p.m., the night before the Halloween delivery. Even though it was all a text exchange, I had a profound sense of her long day: finally getting her children to bed, sitting with her forms and lists of names and classrooms, double checking it all, not wanting to disappoint any child, and double checking the collected funds, Venmo accounts, etc. There was something so sweet in the process, that I felt this bond of care with her, for the next generation, for teachers and schools with funding cuts, and beyond that, meals, food programs, health care, clothing, shelter, transportation--the need, the need. And I felt deep gratitude for the volunteers who step in, as they can, to support and assist. In this surface culture that unrelentingly promotes personal wealth as THE measure of success, came the deep beauty of volunteers, and the real communities that take care of each other. Life, taking care of Life.
This week, including all the uncertainty of the government shutdown, look for the moments that affirm community, and Life affirming connections. Don't led the government upheaval obscure them; feed them with gratitude. If you struggle to discover genuine gratitude within you, try "flipping the coin" to forgiveness, then gently return to gratitude, when and where you find it. (Susan Nettleton)
https://www.mindfulnessassociation.net/words-of-wonder/you-see-i-want-a-lot/ https://poetryarchive.org/poem/truly-great/ https://poems-for-you.com/poems/env2-i-look-at-the-world/