Gratitude and Thanksgiving

water lily on Cache Bay, Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada

Years ago, my spiritual director of the time,
Fr. Chet, once invited me
to practice what he considered
to be the highest form of prayer;
gratitude.

While other practices in my life
---Tai Qwon Do, Tai Chi,
Anthony de Mello meditation,
line dancing---have come and gone,
gratitude remains a daily companion.

One of the synonyms
for gratitude is  thanksgiving.


On this day of Thanksgiving,
  when many families and friends
gather to celebrate
in the United States,
  when the not so fortunate
eat their turkey and dressing
in food shelters
 and when the destitute
 perhaps do not eat,
 I practice gratitude for ~

an amazingly kind, creative, diverse,
 loyal and hysterically funny family

friends, new and old,
who bring richness
to my life each day

Piper and the temple of her familiar---
  our woods

clay and charcoal and a creative imagination

Qi Gong and the lovely french women who
  welcome me weekly into their circle

yoga with Piper pressed by my side

 a husband, who drove 12 hours
  to spend this day visiting a
  former student in prison

a son, who daily loves me back

and water

A therapist once told me,
Jude, the river flows by itself---
 a difficult concept to embrace for a
 do-by-self sort of person.

And so I stand in this river of gratitude,
grateful for each moment,
for each of you.

above Lessy on a Wednesday afternoon

"You sanctify whatever you are grateful for."
                            Anthony de Mello, SJ