I danced on a Friday when the world was black.
It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back.
(from a Catholic hymn)
I woke this morning at 4 am. Still tired. Exhausted, actually, which surprised me because we had a low-key Thanksgiving. I guess 4 am is always supposed to be a time of rest no matter what.
I didn’t allow my eyelids to flutter open more than to squint at the clock. I just wiggled over a bit to make room for a little boy in footie pajamas. I kissed him, wrapped my arms around him, and we drifted back to slumber together.
No $30 tablet could compete with the value of that moment.
Yesterday was a day of gratitude, but today is a day of greed.
I cannot express the depth of my grief over the blight that Black Friday has marred across my country’s most sacred and honorable tradition. I am not concerned over the direction we are headed. That time has long passed. I am utterly disgusted and profoundly saddened by the place we already are. Our new normal.
Contentment and longing don’t exist in the same heart.
It doesn’t matter what we have; it only matters if we know what we have. That is why wealthy people can feel like they need more, and poor people can feel thankful for the little they have. It’s all about perception. Gratitude is the practice of opening our eyes to the abundance that surrounds us. We receive a multitude of spiritual gifts every single day:
sunrise, open eyes, the transformative beauty of the natural world, the opportunity to laugh, the chance to discover something new, our ability to learn, our compulsion to grow and evolve, the miracle of photosynthesis that harnesses the energy of the sun to nourish us all, simple respiration, the radiance of our hearts as the give, receive, and embody love….
Yes, I woke at 4 am on Black Friday, but I wouldn’t dream of leaving my cozy bed filled with the heartbeats of my beloveds just to enter the cold, dark world of consumption.
Never.
I invite you, my dear readers, to take a few steps back from our crazy cultural mess this holiday season.
Give less. Want nothing.
Share your only true treasure with your beloveds: time.
Because the sun is shining, your heart is beating, there is pie in the fridge,
and all is right in the world
as it is now.
Leave a Reply