It's 60 degrees here today in Minnesota, with more warm weather in store for tomorrow - no blizzards, no freezing rain, no single digit windchills. Very nice.
I'm staying in town for the holiday. My family is gathering at my sister's in northern Minnesota, and my restless leg syndrome is on the rampage and I can only sit for 20 minutes at a time, and a three hour car trip is not an option.
So, I'm helping deliver Meals on Wheels, a program that provides hot meals to people who are housebound. Since it's a special day, the volunteers are allowed to take extra time and spend a few minutes visiting. In the evening I'll go to my friend E's, for an enormous potluck with about 40 people meandering through (there is bound to be at least one unsavory green bean casserole).
I often find myself using the term "essential wholeness" and have been contemplating it all day. I think it's the first thing I think of at Thanksgiving.
Our essential wholeness is that part of us that always remains - the core of our soul - that which nothing, not even diabetes, can destroy. Nor can it be depleted by difficult emotions such as fear, shame and anger (that often come along with us for the ride.)
It surfaces in the tiniest acts of faith and kindness - faith that each of our lives has a purpose and will make a difference to our friends, family, co-workers and woman behind us at the grocery store with a screaming toddler in tow.
It is nurtured by looking for beauty in the mundane. On my morning walk to the bus stop, there is a huge old oak tree at the top of the hill. This morning, with bare branches, it looked like a loving grandmother with her arms outstretched, ready to give me a big hug. (And now I'm crying, thinking of my departed grandmas and their big holiday tables, with the chairs that are now emptied and replaced in the cycle of life).
And, it grows to full bloom when we let other people do something nice for us and then pass it on.
Tomorrow, Thanksgiving, be extra kind to someone - including yourself, and then, build on that victory.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
-Kathy
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9 comments:
I love the way you write. It gives me a chance to see the world with different eyes. You are so amazing!
Happy Thanksgiving! You are one of the ones i am thankful for MN!
I am super crabby, and this made me want to be something other than crabby, and selfish. Happy thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving to You Kathy......I know that YOU are still in the Hearts of your Grandparents as well.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi Kathy...Happy thanksgiving from Paul in England...have a great time and stay well, oh, and say hello to the great oak for me next time you are passing, I was told once that the roots of a tree can travel out as much as one and a half times its height! You probably walked over them at the bottom of the hill! Best wishes, Paul
You are an amazing person. Thanks for writing this.
i just read your post on vic's blog. that is how confused i was about talking what happend to me yesterday. Its hard to fathom people can be so ignorrant.
Meals on Wheels! Thats terrific. Volunteering is so underrated.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Chris
i think that that's absolutely awesome that you would spend your day delivering meals on wheels ... my mom used to do it too and sometimes i'd help ... now i work in a nursing home and it's so sad ... people need other people to smile and talk with them ... even if it's only for 5 minutes while you're helping them get set up to eat ...
you're a very respectable woman ... we need more people like you in this world.
Kathy-
I'm late to this post, but so glad I didn't miss it.
Thank you.
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