First, I ask that we all take a moment to breathe, relax, settle in and be calm. Find your peace amongst the chaos.
And now, a few thoughts about being thankful…
Each year around this time, Americans spend a day of celebration with family and friends meant to remind us of all we have to be thankful for. Other nations and cultures have similar traditions of their own. We express our thanks for good health, loving family, good friends and comfortable surroundings. We are thankful for those who serve our nations and protect our freedoms. Some may also be thankful for a productive year resulting in wealth and prosperity. Others may simply be thankful to be alive.
Reflecting on the things we have to be thankful for is a worthy exercise. It is good to appreciate that which brings you happiness.
However, as Jedi we must also be aware of the peril lying beneath these rituals of ours.
To focus on what you have is also to focus on what you have to lose. Cling too tightly to the things you are thankful for and you will find it all the more painful when they are ripped away.
I am reminded of an excerpt from one of my favorite chapters of the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu.
Gold and jade fill up the room
No one is able to protect them
Wealth and position bring arrogance
And leave disasters upon oneself
To truly appreciate all that we have to be thankful for, we must remember to be thankful without it. We must find happiness and serenity in the smallest of things. We must have faith that The Force will provide us with enough and want for no more than that.
So, let us take a moment now to reflect on all we have to be thankful for.
Let us also remember not to dwell on these things and to be wary of our attachments to them. All things come from The Force and will one day return to it. Let us be thankful that we are here together, today, now, in this moment, and be at peace.
“Every day I've got to be thankful that I am alive, and you never know - the cliche is, I guess, you could get hit by a bus tomorrow, so you'd better be at peace with whatever you got going at the moment.” -Joseph Gordon-Levitt
May the Force be with you brothers and sisters, and thank you for sharing your time with me.
