"i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)"
~ e. e. cummings

In my opinion this is truly one of the most beautiful poems every written. For me it captures the overwhelming gift of life and the gifts of the Creator to us each and every day. It invites us to grab the brass ring of our living and embrace all the tiny, seemingly unimportant moments and grasp them with both hands. It challenges us to be awake to all that life offers us, all that our breathing, pulsing bodies can experience. If a prayer is to be said at the beginning of every day, I believe this to be as good a prayer as any.

Tomorrow as people gather to celebrate Thanksgiving, it is a holiday with mixed sentiment. Most people simply love the foods of this day and the simplicity of what it requires. For the most part, there is not much baggage tied to Thanksgiving. We can celebrate it on a purely historical level. We can mark its place in a religious context. We can even see it as the beginning of the headlong fall into Christmas. We can see it as the day to serve others and count our blessings and put that practice on the shelf until next year at this same time.

Or we can plant our feet on the floor in the morning and thank God for the sun's birthday, for bringing us into aliveness after our sleep. We can look out our window and take in the gifts of earth that shine and blow and fly and swim, and sit there in awe and wonder. We can be fully aware of each touch, taste, smell,sight and breath and offer gratitude to the Source. We can look at the faces of those who surround us and name them for the miracles they are. We can Yes! to the life with which we have been graced and make a promise to ourselves to do the same thing the next day and the next.We can strive to keep that promise.

Thanksgiving. It can be a feast of turkey or a Feast of Life. The choice is ours.