Dear Friends ~ This season of Thanksgiving sings with resonance in my soul. I am grateful to live in an intentional community where we all have our tasks and teams to keep things running smoothly. I'm on the garden team, blessed to come together with others to plant, water, weed, and—indeed—harvest both bounty and beauty.
On the personal front, I'm deeply grateful to have weathered major surgery which brought a short halt to my gardening. But it was an experience that offered more opportunities to practice gratitude as my husband took over the cooking, as well as the watering of our home garden, along with his own tasks. Now it is autumn, and I am back to the garden—ever more grateful for the bounty of the earth, the love of family and friends, and the joy that comes with harvest.
As our family gathers for a Thanksgiving feast, I hope the grandchildren will humor me while we all sing: "Oh, the Lord is good to me, and so I thank the Lord for giving me the things I need, the sun and the rain and the apple seed. The Lord is good to me."
And to you, dear readers, hold close to loved ones, pray for the world, give and breathe gratitude. Carry the spirit of thanksgiving with greetings to those you meet. Cross paths of thankfulness. May we harvest a brighter world. ~ Mary Ann
I gave up trying to stop the tears. I abandoned my ruined defenses:
"I don't deserve any support from God after what I did." "Maybe not, but God's not interested in operating a brownie-point system – only in loving and forgiving those who are brave enough not to deny what they've done, no matter how terrible, brave enough to be truly sorry, brave enough to resolve to make a fresh start in serving Love as well as they possibly can."
I sat there with tears streaming down my face, and then just as I was thinking how utterly I was cut off from the Great Healer, that shining, mysterious figure I had tried so hard for so long to follow, Clare reached out across the table and briefly covered my clenched fists with her scarred hands.