Thanksgiving…Giving thanks…Its a verb, that’s what’s happening!
The other day I was invited to spend a couple of hours with the remarkable men and women of Open Door Community in Atlanta. It’s a residential community that proclaims the beloved community by opening doors, kitchens, closets and clinics; opening hearts, souls and minds to “some of the most neglected and outcast of God’s children: the homeless and our sisters and brothers who are in prison.”
I was invited to speak at a “clarification of thought” meeting about my story of hope and healing in depression. And here is how they helped me to clarify my own thoughts, especially in this season of Thanksgiving.
- Everyone has a story to tell and thankfully, they are filled with such iterations of joy, hope, sadness, pain, suffering, uncertainty, laughter, tears, restoration, redemption, healing….
- Thankfully, these stories make us who we are and who we will become. We have the power to write the endings.
- Even when you think you may have nothing….thankfully, YOU are enough!
- Thankfully, inside of us there is such capacity–capacity for truth, for reflection, for courage, for hope– we just have to know, trust and access it.
- We can be thankful for our whole story-ALL parts of our story.
- Being thankful is fundamentally about giving, responding, serving, learning, empowering, seeing anew, being OPEN. It’s a verb, an action. What will you do to give thanks? How do you give thanks?
“Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me…Melt me, Mold me, Fill me, USE ME!”
OR in the lyrics of Schoolhouse Rocks…
I get my thing in action…Verb!
To be, to sing, to feel, to live… Verb! That’s what’s happenin’!
I put my heart in action…Verb!
To run, to go, to get, to give…Verb! You’re what’s happenin’!
That’s where I find satisfaction, yeah!
To search, to find, to have, to hold..Verb! To be bold!
When I use my imagination…Verb!
I think, I plot, I plan, I dream…
Turning in towards creation… Verb!
I make, I write, I dance, I sing…
When I’m feelin’ really active… Verb!
I run, I ride, I swim, I fly!
Other times when life is easy… Ohhh!
I rest, I sleep, I sit, I lie…Verb! That’s what’s happening!
Thank you for this wonderful reflection.
Peace and love to you
Catherine
Thanks for this inspiring reflection. I will be sure to share it with many of my loved ones.
And peace and love to you!
Thank you. Blessings to you and yours!