On this national holiday in
the United States devoted to giving thanks, I offer a series of meditations on
gratitude. I begin with a portion of one of my favorite poems from fellow
Anglican John Donne:
'No
Man is an Island'
No
man is an island entire of itself;
every man is
a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if
a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is
the less,
as well as if a promontory were,
as well
as any manner of thy friends or of thine own
were;
any man's death diminishes me,
because
I am involved in mankind.
And
therefore never send to know for whom the
bell tolls;
it tolls for thee.
MEDITATION XVII
Devotions
upon Emergent Occasions (1624)
John
Donne
Gratitude - Family of Birth
There is no such thing as
self-made men or women. All of us are here because of Others whose gifts to our
lives, both positive and negative, helped make us who we are. On this day of
gratitude, let us remember our Families of Birth.
They are the ones who gave you
your genetic material that started you on your way. The ones who insured you
had enough food, clothing, medical care, shelter and security to survive to
adulthood.
They are the ones who taught
you and modeled many of the values you now call your own. The ones whose
imperfections as adults used to seem so huge and obvious until you became an
adult and realized that it is precisely those imperfections that help make us
human. The ones who held great hopes for our lives, both the unrealized
aspirations of their own lives as well as the light they saw glowing in you
that needed encouragement and support.
They are the siblings and
cousins who shared your journey, the aunts, uncles and grandparents who played
starring roles in your life. And now they include your own children in whom the
cycle has begun once again.
For whom among your Family of
Birth would you give thanks this day of gratitude?
Gratitude – Family of Choice
There is no such thing as
self-made men or women. All of us are here because of Others whose gifts to our
lives, both positive and negative, helped make us who we are. On this day of
gratitude, let us remember our Families of Choice.
They are the ones who shared
your life journey through childhood, adolescence and into adulthood. They are
the ones with whom you shared your deepest secrets, the ones with whom you did
the things you were told not to do and prayed you wouldn’t get caught. They are
the ones who suddenly came unbidden and unexpected into your life and
everything changed in that moment. They are the ones with whom you have
studied, worked, played and made love.
They are the ones whose dry,
absorbent shoulders you always found awaiting your tears in times of loss and
tragedy. They are the ones who have shared that one extra glass of wine with
you as well as the pounding hangover the next morning when you celebrated
life’s little victories and all were had by a good time. They are the ones who have
forgiven you when you did not deserve forgiveness and those to whom you have
returned that favor. And they are the ones whose holes in your life can never
be filled when they eventually must leave.
For whom among your Family of
Choice would you give thanks this day of gratitude?
Gratitude – Life Companions
There is no such thing as self-made men or women. All of us are
here because of Others whose gifts to our lives, both positive and negative,
helped make us who we are. On this day of gratitude, let us remember our Life Companions.
To our lovers, soul mates, partners,
spouses. To those with whom we waited a lifetime before being able to legally
say I do and to those whose vows were exchanged with as little effort as an
application, a fee and the repetition of the words at the notary public’s
office.
To our children, both the
fruit of our own wombs as well as those whom life brought to us to love and
changed us forever. To our non-human children, our dogs, cats, horses, and the
wide range of living beings who have made our lives worth living and reminded
us that love, devotion and compassion transcend the bounds of living species.
To the trees that have shaded us, the flowers that have brought us joy, to the
gardens we have nurtured and whose care in turn provided the means to nurture
our own souls.
For whom among your Life Companions would you give thanks this day of gratitude?
Gratitude – Life Matrix
There is no such thing as
self-made men or women. All of us are here because of Others whose gifts to our
lives, both positive and negative, helped make us who we are. On this day of
gratitude, let us remember all those within the matrix in which our lives have developed.
They are the ones who taught
us in our schools, who cared for us when we were ill and set our arms when we
broke them. They are the ones who keep our homes and streets safe and who
insure that we have lighting and internet. They are the ones who work long
hours at menial tasks to insure our toll booths, entertainment outlets, big box
stores and fast food outlets are available to us in these lives of privilege we
lead.
They are our clergy,
counselors, our fire fighters, our farmers. They are our bus and truck drivers,
our wait staff at restaurants, our banking staff and our garbage collectors.
They are our soldiers and our political leaders, when they actually lead. They
are our friends and the neighbors we actually know.
For whom among those within our shared Life
Matrix would you give thanks this day of gratitude?
Gratitude – the Good Creation
There is no such thing as
self-made men or women. All of us are here because of Others whose gifts to our
lives, both positive and negative, helped make us who we are. On this day of
gratitude, let us remember the Good Creation, this fragile Earth our island
home.
The parameters of life on this
planet are limited and precious. Slight variations in carbon or nitrogen
content in our air and most current life forms on this planet would die. It is
a bountiful creation, with enough natural resources to feed all living beings
on the planet even as some starve because of human greed and collective
choices. It is a place of striking beauty from the deserts of the Gobi to the
windswept Faroe Islands to the rapidly disappearing rainforests, the lungs of
the Earth, along the Amazon.
Whatever or whoever caused this place to come into
being, if anything, is worthy of our deepest gratitude. More importantly, the
Creation we call home is worthy of our responsible care that takes into
consideration all of its living beings.
How would you show your gratitude this day for
the Good Creation we too often take for granted but without which we could not
exist?
Gratitude – Conclusion
For all those lives who have touched
my life, molding me, encouraging me, weeping because of me, for those who have comforted
me, disciplined me, disappointed me, yet loved me despite my worst behaviors and
for those whose time with me was all too brief before they had to leave me, I
give thanks this day.
For the Good Creation of which
I am a part but only a part, I give thanks this day and I pray that I and my
fellow human animals will learn to treat you with the respect you are due. And
to the G_d whom I experience as the very ground of my being and my constant
companion, the G-d from whom all Being arises and to whom all Being returns, I
offer my deepest gratitude.
And now, I invite you to do
the same.
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Harry Scott Coverston
Orlando, Florida
If the unexamined life is not worth
living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is
not worth holding.
Most things worth considering do
not come in sound bites.
For what does G-d require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your G-d? (Micah
6:8, Hebrew Scriptures)
© Harry Coverston 2017
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