Entering the Holiday Season

Tomorrow we celebrate Thanksgiving.  I love Thanksgiving. As a nation we gather together to celebrate that for which we are thankful. We gather in groups – family or friends becoming family, our spiritual family, or feeding those in need.   Sometimes these groups might be tense.  Sometimes we gather in small groups.  Sometimes we are alone.  Sometimes we gather on foreign shores.  Thanksgiving is a powerful holiday – giving us the opportunity to reflect on our year and recall the good things we have in our lives.  Sometimes our year has not been smooth.  Sometimes the past year has been very rough and filled with heartache, pain and loss in terms that seem almost unimaginable.  Sometimes the year has been so difficult that the day of Thanksgiving seems almost as if the universe is mocking us.  Maybe we do not know how to reach out to others in the pain we are facing.  For those of us who are not facing these kinds of hardships ought to have our eyes open to those who do, and lighten their load.  Invite them to share of your bounty be that monetary or the depth of love you have in your hearts.  Sometimes our treasure is not gold, but still is precious to share with those in need.
 
Thanksgiving also marks the entrance of the great holiday season.  Media messages of all kinds bombard us with images of idealized holiday feasts or events. These images should never be used as a measuring stick of how a certain holiday must be celebrated.  We must remember that these holidays are for us to reflect on what we truly believe in our hearts and that usually does not always translate well into movies or commercials. We must remember the hardship of those who are in grief this season.  Remember people we love can sometimes die at times we least expect – even on major holidays that are meant to be joyful.  Well, maybe we should look at grief and grieving and know that maybe we never “get over” our loss, but we might come to live with it in new ways.  Seeing the grief in someone else, might remind us of our own grief.  Remember grief is not a contagious disease, although we all have experienced or will experience it. We should be able to look at grief and know that it is a process of learning to live without someone we love, We should be gentle with those in our lives who might find this a more difficult process than others. As we enter the holiday season maybe we need to look to those we know who are facing grief.  Allow them the space and freedom to grieve, as they must in their own ways.  In this season where many of us celebrate the triumph of light over darkness, let us try to shed light on those we love who might be struggling in the depths of grief.