The Graze V.135: Connections of Gratitude

Dear Friends:

We shared a beautiful meal prepared and shared from the last of our garden’s produce and the neighboring farm. We took a long walk with the dogs after eating (an unusually warm afternoon). In this extended season, the beaver have stretched a path of logs from the tree line to the river. A large flock of wild turkeys feast on the half-frozen bog. A skunk meanders across the road in front of us. A pileated woodpecker excavates a meal from a tree trunk.

There is much to be thankful and yet gathering for Thanksgiving conjures a complex past. Both personally and as a nation we are faced with our human capacity for good and also for wrong. We know that the story of Thanksgiving we were taught as children is a false narrative. We fashioned headbands out of construction paper and told stories of pilgrims at table with Native Americans celebrating peace. We did not talk of the truth of colonization and genocide.

So what do we do with this complex, morally mixed holiday?

Correcting this narrative is essential. There is something deeper and more mysterious to true gratitude. Reconnecting with the truth of our history, the sacred wild earth, the merciful Presence brooding over our troubled world. Seeking authentic connection so that we might one day sit at table together and feel gratitude from a perspective of respect, dignity and equity.

We hold this intention for connection at Mission Farm. Our online Advent Exploration program is focused on finding that connection with ourself, the cosmos and the Creator and Source of all. There is still time to join this online program. You can register here. We would love to see you.

Creating true connections can serve as inspiration for action in our own lives. May we experience true gratitude and redouble our efforts to be genuine peacemakers, to love one another and care for the good Earth.

With deep peace and great hope,

Lisa