Living Gratitude

As Thanksgiving approaches, I think of how much I have to be grateful for. I live a truly privileged life of health, abundance, safety, freedom, love, and connection that I often take for granted. Thanksgiving is a reminder to stop, feel gratitude and give thanks for all the good that I enjoy.

I am also mindful that there are many people who may feel that they have little or nothing to be thankful for this year. I know that the pandemic has hit some of us harder than others. Many have lost loved ones. Some who have survived are still suffering from the lasting effects of the virus. Others are dealing with the uncertainty of whether they have been exposed or when they will exhibit symptoms.

I learned last week that my brother, Tommy, has the virus. He is not hospitalized but is experiencing some profound symptoms. I also learned that one of our members, Jim Luallen, is now hospitalized and on a ventilator due to the virus. Karen, his wife, has reported that he is stable and is improving. He will most likely be in the hospital for weeks. Please keep them in your prayers.

On Tuesday, Colorado Governor Polis and Denver Mayor Hancock announced new restrictions on businesses in an effort to curtail the spread of the virus. One of which is no in-person dining in restaurants. Capacity in gyms and other businesses is now limited to 10%. I have concern for the restaurant and other small business owners and all who are dependent upon them for their financial wellbeing. Perhaps they are some who find it challenging to be thankful this year.

I think of health care workers and first responders who are putting their lives on the line every day to care for those who are ill and hospitalized. My heart goes out to the teachers and childcare workers who are caring for and doing their best to provide quality education for our children in-person, virtually, or a hybrid of both. They are all weary and worn. They, too, may be facing a difficult Thanksgiving.

I am grateful for each of them. I also have empathy and compassion for them. I hold them in the prayerful consciousness of hope and wholeness. And I ask myself what more I can do.

I encourage you to heed the advice of the scientific experts and take the actions recommended, including wearing a mask, maintaining social distancing, and refraining from socializing with others outside your immediate family. Stay at home as much as possible!

My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones or who have been persecuted, injured, or jailed due to the violence of racism, not only in America but around the world. I feel for those who worry for their safety when simply driving to the store or work, jogging in their neighborhood, or bird watching in the park.

I am saddened to think of those who have been denied opportunities for education, jobs, and financial gain due to their skin color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other natural expression of themselves.

I am grateful for my newfound awareness of many of these issues. I am grateful for courageous voices who speak out. I am grateful for the uncommon resilience of so many. I am grateful for the love ethic embodied by the civil and human rights leaders, such as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, John Lewis, Rosa Parks, and Mahatma Gandhi, to name a few.

I give thanks for the contributions that each of them has made. I express my gratitude by learning more about their lives and their work, as well as about their struggles. I also express my gratitude by doing what I can to get involved and help to continue their efforts in the work still to be done. Still, I ask what more I can do. 

I feel disheartened when I witness our treatment of people experiencing homelessness in our city. The few possessions they have taken from them. Tents, sometimes their only refuge from the weather, taken down. Forced to leave areas that are visible to the public as to avoid disturbing the city’s image. Gross lack of funding to provide adequate housing, physical and mental healthcare, and other essential services. They are often a forgotten people relegated to the fringes of our society.

I am grateful for organizations, such as Family Promise of Greater Denver, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, Denver Rescue Mission and others, who do their best to provide services to our brothers and sisters who are experiencing homelessness. I am grateful to the dedicated people who give their time, energy, and love to meet their needs. I am grateful to the Unity Spiritual Center Denver community who continues to show up and step up when asked to contribute to support our partnership with Family Promise.

I can also embody my gratitude by learning more about the work of these organizations and do what I can to get involved. I can give from my financial good to support their work as I am able. I can learn more about legislation that impacts the lives of those experiencing homelessness and work toward influencing a politics of love that cares for them and all people.

I realize that there are many people, not included in those I have mentioned, who are living with concern about the quality of their daily lives. More and more people are experiencing depression, substance addiction is on the rise, suicides have increased, and 50 million people in America live in poverty. They, too, may find it challenging to feel gratitude.

Please know that it was not my intention to write a depressing Thanksgiving post. It was also not my intention to generate gratitude by suggesting that anyone compare his or her life to another’s. Instead, my intention was to verbalize how important it is for us to remember those who might not be in the joyous spirit of Thanksgiving this year and to hold them with empathy, care, and compassion.

This is no way intended to suggest that we should diminish our own gratitude and thanksgiving. Depriving ourselves of those feelings and expressions does not serve anyone, most of all ourselves. I encourage us all to feel gratitude for all the good that we enjoy. Feel gratitude in conscious connection with the Allness that we are as expressions of the Divine. Feel gratitude from the awareness that we are the living enterprise of God, as Unity minister Eric Butterworth says.

And to express that gratitude through our thoughts, words, and actions. In one of his lessons from years ago, Butterworth shared that the Hebrew word for ‘Thanksgiving’ is ‘Todah’ which means “stretching forward of the open hands.” I encourage us to allow this Thanksgiving to remind us our opportunity is to open not only our hands to share what we can, but also to open our hearts to give of our love, especially to those who may be struggling right now.

My hope and prayer for you is that you live in gratitude and thanksgiving every moment of every day. Gratitude is an elevated emotion that has the power to transform our lives and affect the lives of others.

Happy Thanksgiving!