Thanksgiving and Gratitude

Last Sunday in church, the priest's homily had a long, rambling discourse about "brokenness," which for him was a broken health care system, broken roads, broken schools, a broken Catholic church and so on in the endless drum beat of the modern, secular political religion.  Ironically, he and the rest of the congregation had arrived easily by car over great roads and were sitting comfortably in a beautiful worship space, united by our belief with no reference to any divisive status. 

Looking around our congregation, I thought about my middle class friends from Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela.  As attached as they are to their homelands, they are always concerned about kidnappings in their capital cities when they go home at the end of the year.  We, on the other hand, can pick a random spot on the U.S. map, drive there and walk around without fear.  We can step out of our house and go to a market with no fear of a pipe bomb being tossed from a car, as in the Middle East.  I'm grateful for this peace and freedom that I can take for granted.

Having tutored in schools since my college days, I know that our Catholic schools are challenged more than ever by the modern immigrant influx where the students are way behind their chronological age levels in basic math skills.  Our schools don't complain of being broken. They just get on with the job and give to their students unreservedly.  Hundreds of volunteers work every day to do things from tutoring, serving lunches, providing school yard security and doing bookkeeping for the schools.  What's broken for these students are the corrupt dictatorships in their home countries which offered no hope for their parents; now their children can be educated in Catholic schools in which most of the students do not pay tuition.  Are they turned away?  No.  Does the school run a deficit?  Yes.  Is the financial model "broken?"  Yes, but it doesn't matter for today, because the schools aren't broken: they are doing their jobs which is serving the poor, which is what we should be doing. The Christophers motto is "It is better to light one candle than to stand and curse the darkness."

Taizan Maezumi Roshi, writes in his book, "Appreciate Your Life:"

"What is the I that is blocking this realization?  It is my dualistic functioning.  There is nothing wrong with duality itself, that is how our mind functions.  But as long as we remain in the confinement of duality, we are swayed by such opposing values as right and wrong, good and bad.  These are only temporary aspects. Something appears to be good or bad or right or wrong or long or short or big or small--but what is it overall?  The same thing with our life.  We must see what is beyond our duality.  Our life literally comes down to right now. Now! Here! What is it?"  That's the challenge for each of us every day.

Here in the Upper Midwest, it is a beautiful autumnal day in early winter, where the light and smells of the earth can be enjoyed  by anyone without cost.  Our families and our communities can draw nearer over this Thanksgiving holiday, enjoying each other's company in relative bounty, even as they reach out to help others.  Looking out the window, watching people come and go, makes me feel grateful.