Gratitude is a transformative spiritual force. My friend Rev. Kenji Akahoshi from the Buddhist Temple of San Diego often likes to recommend that we move from a mindset of "please" to a mindset of "thank you" That is, we benefit from thinking less about what we do not have, instead remembering all that has been given to us.
As we approach Thanksgiving, I am mindful that not all wealth is material. When I reflect on the course of my life up to this point, it strikes me that I am richer than ever -- if wealth is measured not financially but in terms of the human connections that uphold me materially, emotionally and spiritually. I am the recipient of the love, affection and kindness of a wide circle of people, a circle that has grown over the years. And I am grateful!
On Thanksgiving we are given an opportunity to acknowledge our humble place in the broader scheme of things, to recognize all that sustains us -- the love and affection of our fellow humans, the web of life that maintains the very air we breathe, and the Holy One who loved the world into being.
In gratitude,
Rev. Jonathan
