Thanksgiving 2017

"Thank You, Lord" may be the most beautiful prayer we can utter.

I think one effect of the Original Sin is our sense of entitlement.
We think we deserve better, which drains our souls of gratitude.
Isn't the sin against the Holy Spirit, at its root, a refusal to recognize God's saving mercy and love are at work? The resentment that we feel when someone else gets undeserved blessing, because we secretly feel we are being deprived?

Thanksgiving is a time to count our blessings, we all know it, but perhaps we need to really do it? How many times each day do you say the words, "Abba, Father, thank you, I love you."

God has revealed to me the importance of purification of our nous mind/soul. We have darkness at work within us. It is why we are so unhappy and unhealthy. What if we were able to see, understand, feel, and know how blessed we are? Genuine, heartfelt gratitude, increases our love for our Lord and bonds us together with Him (theosis union). 

Fifty years ago I was at my Aunt Mary's house and my mom sent me across the street to the corner store to get something. When I returned a few minutes later, she was crying uncontrollably. "What happened?" I asked.

What had happened was an apocalypse, an unveiling. A car had squeeled its tires taking off from the stop sign. My mom, fearing the worst, thought I had been hit by a car. The thought of losing me was apparently a horror to her, but I assure you a few minutes prior to that she was not experiencing an intense gratitude for my existence. She took it for granted, because it is what we humans do. 

Thanksgiving is apocalyptic--an unveiling that reminds that we can be aware of God's gifts and be thankful for them, all the time. Until the Holy Spirit purifies our minds and hearts, Thanksgiving is the spiritual discipline of pulling back the veil which darkens our nous. It is the holy work of seeing that we are richly blessed. We exist. We are redeemed and being healed. We are in an amazing relationship with the Triune God and one another. So many blessings each day, with the Hope that better days are coming.

Every day, a hundred times a day say: "Thank you Abba. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Holy Spirit. Thank you, my friends, my family. Thank you."