Last night our family gathered for Thanksgiving. We were three women, nine men, a 10-year-old girl, a 9-month-old girl, and three beloved dogs. As is the long-held tradition of the young man hosting the evening in his family home, we went around the table and each took our turn to say what we wanted to give thanks for.
In essence, the sum total of our expressions of gratitude revealed an acknowledgement of how blessed we all feel to have created this family, where everyone is allowed to be who they are without pretence. With this acknowledgement came the understanding that when we are each allowed to be ourselves, then all else has the potential to find its rightful place in our lives: harmonious health, sustainable wealth, and purposeful living.
These are not fanciful ideas. Life is this simple.
Let people be who they are, love them no matter what, and feel the privilege of watching life unfold as them. One of my fervent prayers as a young mother raising sons was: Dear God, let me not interfere!
I’m sure there were plenty of moments when my sons felt I was interfering. But my conscience is clear. I know I did the best that I was able to do. And this is all life asks of anyone.
When it was my turn to give thanks, I thanked all the mothers, seen and unseen, who gave us life, for without their labours, who among us would be gathered now? I wanted to speak for all women, and the children of women. I wanted to speak to the humanity in all of us.
Women may have been the ones to get this party started, but now we are living in a time when all of us are required to respond to the mothering call. Our world needs mothering. And mothering is not gender specific. The Great Cosmic Mother is rising through the human heart and She demands we re-member how to live the life She has given us.
Again, these are not fanciful words. The intelligence of life is love. In love, all things are possible.
Let us re-member to gather together, feed each other, hold and nurture, listen and inspire, create our families, our work, our communities, and root in the wonder of all it. For every being is home when we open our arms in welcome.
My ultimate goal in life now is to be more like our dogs — when they are safe in homes where they are nourished with good food, loving care and attention, they ooze contentment, plop themselves wherever they feel comfortable, and trust that all their needs will always be met because they are loved for being just who they are.
May all beings know they are loved now. And may every moment from this moment forward be lived in Thanksgiving!
Magdalen Bowyer
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