Gratitude: the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful.
Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.
Buddah
H. U. Westermayer:
The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.
I might add the charity the Native American people showed in saving the pilgrims was repaid in the genocide of their own people. It is easy to create a day called thanksgiving when the people who made the day possible were ruthlessly slaughtered and removed from their own land. Are the native people for whom Thanksgiving was made possible grateful today? Forced to relocate to areas where sustainable life was all but impossible, murdered tortured and raped along the way, is this what they have become thankful for? Their culture annihilated, dismantled and ultimately discarded. Among the first victims of large scale biological war,i given blankets that were supposed to provide comfort and warmth, instead laced with influenza. What gratitude do the native people owe to the pilgrims, in what act of faith and charity are the native people to find gratitude?
Try and find a native american on the east coast today, is this gratitude for the sacrifices their people made to accommodate the pilgrims?
What is it that we are most thankful for, what in our own world brings a sense of gratitude? So often I hear a variety of reasons to be grateful, for health, prosperity, family, life. We are told to be grateful for the gift of life, to express gratitude for the lot in life we are born to, whether rich or poor. Of course I can only write from the standpoint of being born into relative wealth, so I can be grateful for the chance to live a life where I can aspire to be more, to have more, to become more. I was not born into poverty, I was not born into squalor, or into violence. I was not born to the victim of rape, incest, or unwillingness. I was born into a white middle class American household with two loving parents, indeed I have something to be grateful for. I have not suffered starvation, violence, or physical hardship, nor have I been the victim of acts of criminality. My race has never been threatened, or enslaved, I have never feared persecution because of the way I look. I have been “free” to chose my own path, to create a future somewhat of my own choosing. Yes, I am grateful for my life for I have not known true hardships.
Should we all be grateful for what we have? I have life therefore I am grateful? I can say yes, but is that because of the life I born into? Would I feel the same being born into starvation, captivity, or oppression, could I wake each morning thankful to be alive? A buddist monk in captivity during Vietnam claimed that sometimes all he had was a blue sky to be grateful for, and for him it was enough. Gratitude to me it seems is some what subjective, what one is grateful for another takes for granted. Often times I have heard people talk about their travels to impoverished parts of the world, and even though the people have no material wealth they seem happy and grateful for the life they have. Some comment that they seem in general happier than the people here in the United States, they just do not have the burdens that wealth apparently brings. But, when asked if they would kindly trade places, the answer is a resounding no. The question begs to be asked, if I was stripped of all my material wealth, subjected to poverty and starvation, or violence and oppression, would I still have gratitude? Would I still consider my life full of blessings, or would the blue sky be enough?
In the realm of spirituality it is said that if we are grateful, if we give thanks for what we have we will be blessed. Blessed with what? Is gratitude a gateway to receiving more in life, and how is more defined. Is the purpose of expressing gratitude another selfish act to gain peace for oneself for what one has in their life that someone else may not have? Often times I think we are thankful that our life is not like someone else’s, thank goodness that did not happen to me! Because I expressed thanks for the life I have been given, does that somehow spare me from the burdens that afflict millions of other people? Have I really been more grateful for my gift of life that it has entitled me to have more than another? I would like to think this is not the case, and that the expression of true gratitude is because we all share a common humanity, and a desire to see all of our fellow creatures live a life free from pain and suffering. I do not believe my life has been full of opportunities because I have expressed gratitude for the gift of life, although I am grateful for the life I was born into. I cannot say I would feel the same if born into different circumstances, maybe I would just say thanks for a blue sky and maybe it would be enough.
Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.
Buddah
H. U. Westermayer:
The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.
I might add the charity the Native American people showed in saving the pilgrims was repaid in the genocide of their own people. It is easy to create a day called thanksgiving when the people who made the day possible were ruthlessly slaughtered and removed from their own land. Are the native people for whom Thanksgiving was made possible grateful today? Forced to relocate to areas where sustainable life was all but impossible, murdered tortured and raped along the way, is this what they have become thankful for? Their culture annihilated, dismantled and ultimately discarded. Among the first victims of large scale biological war,i given blankets that were supposed to provide comfort and warmth, instead laced with influenza. What gratitude do the native people owe to the pilgrims, in what act of faith and charity are the native people to find gratitude?
Try and find a native american on the east coast today, is this gratitude for the sacrifices their people made to accommodate the pilgrims?
What is it that we are most thankful for, what in our own world brings a sense of gratitude? So often I hear a variety of reasons to be grateful, for health, prosperity, family, life. We are told to be grateful for the gift of life, to express gratitude for the lot in life we are born to, whether rich or poor. Of course I can only write from the standpoint of being born into relative wealth, so I can be grateful for the chance to live a life where I can aspire to be more, to have more, to become more. I was not born into poverty, I was not born into squalor, or into violence. I was not born to the victim of rape, incest, or unwillingness. I was born into a white middle class American household with two loving parents, indeed I have something to be grateful for. I have not suffered starvation, violence, or physical hardship, nor have I been the victim of acts of criminality. My race has never been threatened, or enslaved, I have never feared persecution because of the way I look. I have been “free” to chose my own path, to create a future somewhat of my own choosing. Yes, I am grateful for my life for I have not known true hardships.
Should we all be grateful for what we have? I have life therefore I am grateful? I can say yes, but is that because of the life I born into? Would I feel the same being born into starvation, captivity, or oppression, could I wake each morning thankful to be alive? A buddist monk in captivity during Vietnam claimed that sometimes all he had was a blue sky to be grateful for, and for him it was enough. Gratitude to me it seems is some what subjective, what one is grateful for another takes for granted. Often times I have heard people talk about their travels to impoverished parts of the world, and even though the people have no material wealth they seem happy and grateful for the life they have. Some comment that they seem in general happier than the people here in the United States, they just do not have the burdens that wealth apparently brings. But, when asked if they would kindly trade places, the answer is a resounding no. The question begs to be asked, if I was stripped of all my material wealth, subjected to poverty and starvation, or violence and oppression, would I still have gratitude? Would I still consider my life full of blessings, or would the blue sky be enough?
In the realm of spirituality it is said that if we are grateful, if we give thanks for what we have we will be blessed. Blessed with what? Is gratitude a gateway to receiving more in life, and how is more defined. Is the purpose of expressing gratitude another selfish act to gain peace for oneself for what one has in their life that someone else may not have? Often times I think we are thankful that our life is not like someone else’s, thank goodness that did not happen to me! Because I expressed thanks for the life I have been given, does that somehow spare me from the burdens that afflict millions of other people? Have I really been more grateful for my gift of life that it has entitled me to have more than another? I would like to think this is not the case, and that the expression of true gratitude is because we all share a common humanity, and a desire to see all of our fellow creatures live a life free from pain and suffering. I do not believe my life has been full of opportunities because I have expressed gratitude for the gift of life, although I am grateful for the life I was born into. I cannot say I would feel the same if born into different circumstances, maybe I would just say thanks for a blue sky and maybe it would be enough.
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