Giving Thanks
November 28th 2008 21:19
Yesterday we celebrated a nice Thanksgiving dinner in the U.S. and it was all very nice. I wanted to talk a bit about giving thanks for everything that we have in our lives including our children! It is interesting to me how a holiday can bring up rituals and memories from long ago. Recipes are passed down from generation to generation in the same way that our ideas about parenting.
We may not think about this often because it is just beneath the surface and goes undetected, but we experience it when we find ourselves feeling a certain way or even behaving in a particular manner. There is usually an underlying thought that is driving our feelings. Much of the thoughts and conditioning we have are from our parents and caretakers. Often we parent based on how we were parented. Even though we may have loved ones that are no longer with us their voices and our experiences remain with us.
This thanksgiving I found myself very happy and peaceful as I prepared all the fixings for the dinner we were about to eat. I could hear the voices from Thanksgivings past reminding me that they were still with me if only in spirit. I could hear the laughs, opinions, and thoughts of family that could not be with me this Thanksgiving dinner and I felt a sense of thanks for all that they had given me. The good, the bad, the other. We have so much that is given to us by our parents, grandparents, friends, and extended family.
After dinner as I relaxed from such a feast, I found myself saying a something my grandmother always said. I said, "thanks to God." Now I'm not the most religious person, but I would like to think I have a spiritual path. I consciously caught myself as I uttered the "conditioned" words that my grandmother so often said after we had a meal. Not just a feast like yesterday, but any meal. She gave thanks to something greater than her that she felt was responsible for her having so much.
I thought how appropriate on this Day of Giving Thanks that we should thank our God or Higher Power or whoever or whatever it is that we believe is responsible for us having all we do. Even if this thanks is just to the person who prepared the meal!
In Peace and Love,
George
We may not think about this often because it is just beneath the surface and goes undetected, but we experience it when we find ourselves feeling a certain way or even behaving in a particular manner. There is usually an underlying thought that is driving our feelings. Much of the thoughts and conditioning we have are from our parents and caretakers. Often we parent based on how we were parented. Even though we may have loved ones that are no longer with us their voices and our experiences remain with us.
This thanksgiving I found myself very happy and peaceful as I prepared all the fixings for the dinner we were about to eat. I could hear the voices from Thanksgivings past reminding me that they were still with me if only in spirit. I could hear the laughs, opinions, and thoughts of family that could not be with me this Thanksgiving dinner and I felt a sense of thanks for all that they had given me. The good, the bad, the other. We have so much that is given to us by our parents, grandparents, friends, and extended family.
After dinner as I relaxed from such a feast, I found myself saying a something my grandmother always said. I said, "thanks to God." Now I'm not the most religious person, but I would like to think I have a spiritual path. I consciously caught myself as I uttered the "conditioned" words that my grandmother so often said after we had a meal. Not just a feast like yesterday, but any meal. She gave thanks to something greater than her that she felt was responsible for her having so much.
I thought how appropriate on this Day of Giving Thanks that we should thank our God or Higher Power or whoever or whatever it is that we believe is responsible for us having all we do. Even if this thanks is just to the person who prepared the meal!
In Peace and Love,
George
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