The news is that there is a radio station that is already into Christmas music, the idea being that people need a lift from all the woeful tidings of the season. Excuse me, but what happened to Thanksgiving?
I get a lift from giving thanks, especially when times are hard. Gratitude is, in fact, one of the big spiritual practices of the world's religions. Give thanks, they say. Giving thanks is important, they say. It's important because it is uplifting. People need a lift from all the woeful tidings of the season, so let us undertake the spiritual practice of giving thanks.
Imagine all the years when harvests were thin, and survival through the winter was a dicey prospect. What did our foreparents do? They worried, of course, but also they gave thanks. And why not? The world is full of many wonders. Life is amazing. Every day I wake up, it's time to give thanks. And throughout the day there are many moments to be grateful. Grateful for the smile of the waitress at the coffee shop. Grateful for the greeting of my co-worker. Grateful for the opportunity to make what I can of another day. Letting gratitude run through my day, pretty soon I realize I am in love with life, indeed, that I am happy, that I am in awe of nature and human invention, and so much more. And yes, my 401(k) is toast.
There are so many bad things that happen, things for which gratitude is really not the appropriate response. But then, through the rage and disappointment, beyond the tears, it turns out there is something, not the central event, but something around the edges, there is something for which to be thankful. Those little crumbs of gratitude from around big awful events are important. They make a trail that can lead us from bitterness to forgiveness, from despair to renewed hope, a trail of crumbs through the dark places that can take us back out again.
So let us not go quite yet to the forgettable and commercial uplift of Christmas songs on the radio. Let's take time for Thanksgiving first, and tune up our spiritual practice of gratitude. It's something within ourselves that will deliver the goods as we face these hard times. And it's good to start with giving thanks.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Turning?
Turning is what people say we need to do as a nation. We have somehow gotten onto the wrong path, and we must turn now to a better way. We have chosen a President who promises change, and surely turning to a better way would be another way of putting that. But what is our relationship now to that choice? Have we done our part of the work by making up or minds and voting? I hope that is not all we little people plan to do.
I'm thinking of our country as a large piece of equipment, a big truck, or a ship, something that takes a lot of energy to turn. And this turning is not even so simple as a change of direction for an earth mover, a truck, or a ship. Besides, the pieces of the turning all seem to be interrelated, and not all the levers that control the parts are in the hands of our new president. He controls some of them, and influences some of them, but not all of them, and as he has carefully reminded us, not yet. We chose, and fell back in amazement at our work, which truly is amazing, but it is not done yet -- he starts work on January 20. The other elected officials we chose at the same time will be working with him, whether as partners in his vision or as loyal opposition. That will certainly help us get pointed toward a different direction, but the change of direction involves other institutions than government.
There is still work for us to do. We need to hold to the vision with its interconnected parts, a vision partly in the hands of government, partly influenced by government, and to some degree outside government control. A new way of doing international relations, lowered reliance on fossil fuels, a better system for access to health care, better public education, and a renewed commitment to protecting the habitability of the planet, these are the major headings of what's involved. First, government will have to deal with the immediate crises in the financial markets and the "real" economy. It's important for us to hold the vision of the changes we need, and to start working on them directly as opportunity presents itself.
Maybe there are new "green" enterprises to be started. Maybe the are ways to promote good health practices, from healthy eating to exercise without getting involved with government programs. Maybe there are ways to lead change with local initiative before they make up their minds at the national level. Maybe there are tiny international efforts at outreach that we can make our own.
People are going to be doing things on a small scale that help direct the change that is starting to happen. Some people will be doing things on a larger scale outside the realm of government. Will they be people who value human dignity and diversity? will they be people who value the use of democratic processes everywhere in society? One way to make sure they will be people who have the values we teach in Unitarian Universalism is for them be members of our faith community -- perhaps you? or someone you know? or someone who hasn't yet found us? We are a larger faith in the sense that we direct our attention to the deep needs of our world here and now, rather than to some imagined other world. And I say we need to be a larger faith in numbers, too, in order to help make this turning happen in the right way, in a way that is good for people in all walks of life and good for all living things, in a way that is good for the Earth.
Show all
I'm thinking of our country as a large piece of equipment, a big truck, or a ship, something that takes a lot of energy to turn. And this turning is not even so simple as a change of direction for an earth mover, a truck, or a ship. Besides, the pieces of the turning all seem to be interrelated, and not all the levers that control the parts are in the hands of our new president. He controls some of them, and influences some of them, but not all of them, and as he has carefully reminded us, not yet. We chose, and fell back in amazement at our work, which truly is amazing, but it is not done yet -- he starts work on January 20. The other elected officials we chose at the same time will be working with him, whether as partners in his vision or as loyal opposition. That will certainly help us get pointed toward a different direction, but the change of direction involves other institutions than government.
There is still work for us to do. We need to hold to the vision with its interconnected parts, a vision partly in the hands of government, partly influenced by government, and to some degree outside government control. A new way of doing international relations, lowered reliance on fossil fuels, a better system for access to health care, better public education, and a renewed commitment to protecting the habitability of the planet, these are the major headings of what's involved. First, government will have to deal with the immediate crises in the financial markets and the "real" economy. It's important for us to hold the vision of the changes we need, and to start working on them directly as opportunity presents itself.
Maybe there are new "green" enterprises to be started. Maybe the are ways to promote good health practices, from healthy eating to exercise without getting involved with government programs. Maybe there are ways to lead change with local initiative before they make up their minds at the national level. Maybe there are tiny international efforts at outreach that we can make our own.
People are going to be doing things on a small scale that help direct the change that is starting to happen. Some people will be doing things on a larger scale outside the realm of government. Will they be people who value human dignity and diversity? will they be people who value the use of democratic processes everywhere in society? One way to make sure they will be people who have the values we teach in Unitarian Universalism is for them be members of our faith community -- perhaps you? or someone you know? or someone who hasn't yet found us? We are a larger faith in the sense that we direct our attention to the deep needs of our world here and now, rather than to some imagined other world. And I say we need to be a larger faith in numbers, too, in order to help make this turning happen in the right way, in a way that is good for people in all walks of life and good for all living things, in a way that is good for the Earth.
Show all
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