Matters That Matter ®

No, there was no close call, come on…menopause and vasectomy, really?

However…the turkey soup is in full production; the sweet potatoes, creamed onions and even a little stuffing folded into gallons of soup; enough soup to share with the neighborhood…oh, damn that’s right, most of them have soup too.

It seems that there is really no end to the abundance. Even in the aftermath of blessing and gratitude and celebration.. there is more abundance.

I think we would all agree that 2010 came on the heels of the rude awakening challenges of 2009. It has been a really difficult couple of years for our families, our neighbors, our country and our world. Not unlike you, I have watched too many suffer from jobs lost, dreams forever altered, fear encountered and a sense of hopelessness that has been deafening. And yet, on a day of grace, we gather with those most cherished and consider all that we are thankful for.

This year I looked at each person at my table, as the peas were being passed, and the conversations light and loving and full of memories and history shared…and realized that in-spite of the challenges, in-spite of the pain and hopelessness, in-spite of heart ache, we were gathered together around abundance. The food of course, too much, too good, too much. But abundance nonetheless.

I realized that each person at my table has in his or her lifetime been faced with unbelievable and often unbearable pain…even the young people. That life has been too hard at times. That each of them has at one time or another faced something that made them buckle and question if they could get up and go on. When it came time for me to offer up what I was thankful for, I looked each one of them in their candle lit eyes and thanked them for doing the work…the hard, unfathomable work it took to end up there in that moment, celebrating what matters most. Their presence was a reminder that even in the darkest of times, the sun will surely come up tomorrow and we will be thankful that we were there to see it rise.

To all of you who have shown light on my path;  showed up with good wishes and words of encouragement and love and adoration and hope and laughter and promise and truth and  love and direction and support and generosity and courage…I thank you and count you among my abundant blessings, each and every day….even those days where there is no soup.