Last night our family gathered for Thanksgiving. To honour 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 for what we wanted to give thanks.
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! And believe me, it is still a useful mantra.
I'm sure there are plenty of moments when my sons feel I am interfering. But my conscience is clear. I am always aiming to do the best that I am 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 mothering party started, but currently we are living in a time when all of us are required to answer 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 it all. For every being is home when we open our arms in welcome.
May all beings know they are loved now. And may every moment from this moment forward be lived in Thanksgiving!
Write the wrongs that are done to you in sand, but write the good things that happen to you on a piece of marble. Let go of all emotions such as resentment and retaliation, which diminish you, and hold onto the emotions, such as gratitude and joy, which increase you.
~ Arabic proverb
Magdalen Bowyer
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