Approaching Thanksgiving

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"The ritual is One

The food is One

We who offer the food are One

The fire of hunger is also One

All action is One

We who understand this are One."

HINDU blessing as cited in: (Altman, Donald, 2004-04-14. "Meal by Meal: 365 Daily Meditations for Finding Balance Through Mindful Eating," Kindle Locations 3201-3203. New World Library. Kindle Edition).

My mind was snagged by this quote. Probably because tomorrow is Thanksgiving...a holiday set aside for being thankful but more often celebrated by devotion to eating and football.

Knowing the oneness surrounding eating makes it easier to share what we have with others. Preparing the food , sharing it, eating it...we are all part of "one." We are all united. It is much harder for me to be angry or resentful towards someone I "am one with." Unfortunately, in our culture, "being one with another" is most often associated with marriage. This world would be a much more peaceful place if we could comprehend and accept this concept of "oneness" from a broader perspective.

Accepting this way of looking at things would pretty much do away with the whole concept of ownership. Greed would suffer a big blow. So would fighting over ownership/greed issues. If the world is no longer viewed as "us versus them" and seen rather as "we," many of the world's problems would be solved.

Envy would have trouble surviving also; the game of having to look better than, younger than, or skinnier than would be meaningless if we viewed ourselves and all of our actions as one. There would be no need to be "smarter than," "better than," or "kinder than" anyone else.

This way of thinking is quite appealing, and from time to time I have been able to momentarily "see through those sun glasses." My "oneness," however, is often short lived. It usually lasts until I feel the need to step on a Black Widow spider before it bites me or my dogs or I'm at a four way stop where there always seems to be someone who thinks his or her stop sign means stop momentarily or yield and then proceed driving regardless of whose turn it is to proceed first according to our country's driving laws. My "oneness" philosophy is even more short lived when I have to drive through a round-a-bout which, locally speaking, seems to provide a chaotic challenge for most drivers regarding when to proceed or in which lane to drive.

I guess I'm saying mindfulness and the resulting acceptance of being one with creation is a nice philosophy, but I have trouble applying it on any kind of regular basis. I watch the news on television and feel defeated. There is an over abundance of greed in this world, and those that have seem to like what they have and to want to keep what they have at all costs. And, there you have it. I am watching "they" on the news rather than "us." Centuries of wars and poverty have not changed the collective "us" very much. We have lived and do live life as selfish people who want to conquer, control, and own regardless of what or whom it harms.

Enough. I do not need to get bogged down in a morass of negativity on this the eve of Thanksgiving. I do pray that we can come closer to accepting and being one in a peaceful, loving world. I know it has to start with us. Not me, you, them, or they. Us.

And so, as you embark on your personal journey through Thanksgiving food rituals, remember the blessing quoted at the beginning of this evening's blog, and when you are saying grace before your meal, if that is one of your rituals, please remember to pray for the human family that is one.

Please comment and share your thoughts about "oneness". May God bless and keep you.