It’s Thanksgiving this week, in Canada at least. But it’s harvest time on this part of the planet for lots of people and, at least where we are here, there’s cause for celebration. It’s been a good crop, pretty good weather and lots of people working to bring it in. Given the state of things in the world today, I imagine there’s lots of people having to work to find something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. No doubt, there’s more than a few heaving a big sigh and saying “thank God for the harvest.”
Now, some of those might be just an expression of relief, but, really, we should all start by thanking God for the harvest. Really, however you know God, in nature, in each other, in spirit, in passion, in creativity and in relationships, we truly need to be thankful that we are filled, surrounded and connected by life. Maybe we should start there.
I guess it depends on what end you view things from. I’m already seeing lot of messages reminding people that there’s always something to be thankful for. Even in these pandemic times, even with grief, civil unrest, racism, poverty, homelessness, war and violence and, well, and, and, and. The list is long. But still, there are little things every day for which we should be - could be - thankful. Often it’s simply a question of looking for them and acknowledging them. Do you see things to be thankful for?
Like the harvest. Even with all that other stuff, there’s a good harvest and that’s the point of the seasonal holiday, anyway, isn’t it? At least we’ve got farmers to be thankful for.
Yes. About that. No one’s more grateful for farmers than me. Obviously I like food. And I also would be a terrible farmer and appreciate the skill and dedication of so many who, thankfully, are good at it.
But they don’t do it alone, do they? They need the seed and the animals. They need the land. They need good (or, at least, cooperative) weather. They need farm equipment. They need workers, they need trucks and drivers to haul the harvest, they need places to process, workers and places that turn the raw ingredients into other things. They need time. We don’t do things alone, we need the resources of creation and the support of each other.
Maybe we should start there.
What if we began with being thankful simply for what is? What if we began with a sense of thankfulness for this creation in which we live that offers, yes, challenges, but also opportunities? What if we began with the wholeness of creation, before we broke it down or broke ourselves down? What if, like the poet E.E. Cummings, we began each waking moment with “i thank You God for most this amazing day,” recognizing that the wholeness of life is the beginning of thankfulness.
That’s why “i thank You God for most this amazing day.” God is in that wholeness of creation, from the beginning. God is all that is beautiful and all is beautiful in its beginning. God is that love that connects us, that energy that inspires us, this earth that feeds us. Lets begin in thanks.
