"You think this is just another day in your life, but its not just another day. It's the one day in your life that is given to you. Its given to you, it's a gift, the only gift that you have right now, and the only appropriate response is gratefulness.......
Look at the faces of the people you meet. Each face has a unique story, a story that you could never fully fathom. And not only their own story, but the story of their ancestors is there. And in this present moment, in this day, all the people you meet, all that life from generations and from so many places all over the world flows together and meets you here......"
Benedictine monk Brother David Steindl-Rast
Following the celebrations and remembrances of Samhain/Dia de los Muertos, which coincided traditionally with the Last Harvest Festival of the year (hence all the pumpkins!) we enter the advent of Winter, November. As the Wheel turns, the final Bounty is stored away before the first snows fall. Apples are in barrels, ready to be pressed into cider.
What now, with leaves fallen amid the darkening, overcast days? Well, in the U.S. we celebrate Thanksgiving (traditionally done with family, and large birds called turkeys). There are stories about how the generous native people of New England brought the first turkeys to Puritan immigrants (otherwise called colonists), and so that's the traditional myth being celebrated. Although, from the viewpoint of Native people themselves, history has demonstrated that this was not something to celebrate at all - realistically, it might better be a day of mourning for them.
But leaving that story behind, and returning to the Wheel of the Year, this seems to me a perfect time to celebrate Gratitude. How can we talk about the closing of the year, going "into the dark" ~ without, finally, arriving at GRATITUDE? How can we really look at the experience of being alive without finally arriving at Gratitude?
I've shared this video by Louie Schwartzberg before. I wanted to share it again.
