Thankful for Family

This week, as many US citizens gather for the US Thanksgiving holiday, I thought this week the appropriate week to speak of being thankful for family. It is as much a celebration of family as it is a harvest feast this week. But I should mention that for my generation "family" doesn't automatically mean the nuclear one (although it may, in both senses of the word) but also the family of our choosing or invitation.
As newly weds, my wife and I first spent three years away from any extended family of our own, but found ourselves invited into the rich and warm "family" of fellow grad-students or close friends. I also know that for my wife, growing up away from extended family, their family tradition was to invite those who were away from extended relations to join them, in the process extending their own family.
This year, we have the fortune and great joy to be able  to travel and spend time with my extended family.
Wherever you find yourself this Thanksgiving, may you count yourself fortunate, too, especially in the things to be thankful for.
Blessed Be,
Joel

Thankful for Work

"What?! Did you just say ... 'work'?"
Yup, I just said work.
I don't necessarily mean that thing that we do for money (but that very well might be included), rather I refer to the opportunities to practice a "Craft" or a "Trade." I give thanks for the ability to become engaged in the creative process, big or small. Maybe this process allows us to form a livelihood, maybe it is just a creative outlet, in either case it can unite us with the Living and Active Creative Force of the Cosmos.
Have you ever had those moments in time in which you become so absorbed in the "craft" you are doing that time "disappears"? "I'll just give it another five minutes," you tell yourself, but the next time you look at the clock hours have passed. That's what I mean. And that is a form of meditation, a form of mindfulness.
Jill Dickin Schinas writes of their building Mollymawk in this manner ("Zen and the Art of Boat Building"). However, I remain convinced that any activity done in a mindful (dare I say compassionate) manner opens us up to prayer, to the Divine. Martin Luther once commented that even changing your child's diapers can open us to the Divine. Obviously any task at hand can then be a form of meditation.  And that is always a reason to give thanks.
May you continue to find moments of mindfulness throughout your days.
Blessed be,
Joel

Thankful for the Outdoors

Living the way we do, we are often exposed to the outdoors in an intimate way. We hear the rain on the deck. We hear the wind in the rigging  (on our boat and others). We get wet coming and going from the boat. We even startle blue herons (sometimes it is the other way around, as they startle us in their prehistoric manner). We pay attention as we haven't when we lived in a house or an apartment.

These have brought us a great appreciation for our fellow housemates (our fellow Earth dwellers). Sometimes we've seen things we never would have otherwise. For instance, a number of years ago, I took the dog for his last walk of the night. I wasn't really looking forward to this as it was pouring buckets of rain. As we hurried back (I did mention that it was raining buckets of rain?). As we came back, I looked at the surface of the water. It was amazing! Each drop off rain was sending out ripples of phosphorescents. The water was a glow  in drops and ripples. We would have all missed it, if we didn't live so close to the natural world.

May you have graceful experiences in this wonderful world of ours.

Blessed be,

Joel

Thankful for Generousity

One of our goals as a couple, as a family, as individuals is to be generous people. We feel that we have been given gifts and the only way to respond is with a sense of generosity. Consequently, we tend to look for ways that we can give to others. These gifts don't have to be things, or of a monetary sense (how can you put a dollar amount on friendship?). As a result, we find that this changes the way we see the world around us - the world is full of God's Grace (gift) do we see it? Do we wake appreciative of this, and look for the ways Grace is overflowing our lives? Do we attempt to a line our lives with that sense of Grace? These are the types of questions we ask ourselves.

But rather than brag about ourselves, I'll share two examples that happened to us yesterday.

First, we were dashing off to church, running late. These things always seems to happen as we are dashing off because we're late. A couple stopped us to chat for a moment. Says the husband, "Do you think your kids might like my little kayak? It needs some fixing up, but I think you and the kids could do it. The wife says I haven't used it five years, so it's time to give it away." One of the things that struck me about this was that instead of throwing something away that is no longer used; instead of sending the item off to Goodwill/Value Village/Sally Anne's they were opting to give it away. How cool is that?

Second, after church one of the members was outside changing the Way Side Pulpit/Reader Board. A neighbor to the church asked her if anyone could use some potatoes, they had way to many. So, a neighbor to the church (who has no church connection, as far as I know) donated a bunch of potatoes to the church for the members to take home. How foolish of us to think that the Holy Spirit only works from within the walls of the church.

As you go forth this week, may be you be inspired to generosity by seeing the example in others. May you be such an example, too.

Blessed Be,

Joel