True Thanksgiving

The turkey is in the oven, filling the air with the fragrance of anticipation, and my heart is glad. The pies are cooling on the rack, overflowing with the fruits of the earth, and my heart is full. Conversation, companionship, and conviviality transform the rooms of this beloved home, and my heart is at peace.

Soon dear ones---family and cherished friends---will gather at the table to rejoice in our bounty of blessings, and with us lift up their hearts in thanksgiving. As the table is set, my heart gratefully remembers the legacy of love and tradition represented in the talismans of freshly laundered linens, sparkling crystal, and gleaming china. The silver shines, the candles glow, the flowers delight us with their beauty.

This is good. This is very good. Let us hold fast to this authentic moment of Simple Abundance. Let us cherished this feeling of complete contentment. Let us rejoice and praise the Giver of all good. The English novelist Thomas Hardy believed that the days of declining autumn created an inner season in which we could live "in spiritual altitudes more nearly approaching ecstasy" than at any other time of the year. Let us exult in our souls' ecstatic accord.

Come, my thankful sisters, come. Offer grace for the bounty of goodness. Raise the song of harvest home, the glass of good cheer, the heart of overflowing joy. We have so much for which to be thankful. So much about which to smile, so much to share. So much, that in season of plenty, we can embrace the season of relinquishment. All we have is all we need.

O beloved Spirit, truly you have given us so much, an extravagance of riches. Give us, we pray, one thing more. The gift of grateful hearts. Hearts that will not forget what You have done.

---Sarah Ban Breathnach
Simple Abundance