Our challenge and our goal

is to accept that the good is here,

give ourselves permission to receive it,

smile and give thanks.

-Edwene Gaines-

What images, concepts and emotions come to light when you hear the words soul, thanks, giving and receiving? What memories do you have of these words you’ve heard since childhood? Where do you hear them these days and how often do you use them? Is it really more blessed to give than receive and don’t we first receive life before we can give it? What’s the meaning of Thanksgiving in these United States and do we only give thanks when things go our way ? What are you giving thanks for on this most lovely day?

These questions and many more come to mind as the month of November draws to a close and with it, the autumn season we’ve celebrated over the past months. As this year draws to another end and beginning, where are you in your life trajectory? What have you learned this year that’s stuck with you and changed the way you see the world? What are you giving thanks for and have you accepted the ‘good’ that’s appeared and asked you to receive it within the depths of your soul?

At a personal level, I’m in the midst of a significant life transition that’s taking me from the comfort of where I’ve been into an unknown adventure of soul. It’s marking the end of one season and the birth of another. It’s requiring me to let go of previously held opinions, prejudices and conclusions that directed my life and held me captive. In making a different series of decisions based on altered perceptions, I’m accepting the mystery of the new, letting go of the old and become receptive to a host of different options.

Do you have this sense that the ‘good’ is here for you or are you still looking for it? My sense is that the ‘good’ is always here. The problem is, we don’t perceive it. Our conditioning directs us to look outside ourselves rather than within. Our perceptions are clouded by our distorted perspectives which invariably look outside ourselves toward something we’re unable to reach. What if the ‘good’ is always here waiting for us to receive it? What if you could soulfully give yourself permission to receive it? What then? Would it make a difference?

In my case, when I finally let go of what I didn’t want, to focus on what I did want, the path began to show itself. The challenge is to accept the soul of the gift that leads to another gift; give yourself permission to receive it, smile and give thanks until you’re convinced this step by step process is leading you into the next season of your soul. When you realize that you can receive this ‘good’ whenever you awaken to it, you start receiving and giving the appropriate energies in surprising ways. This is when your journey becomes your destination! Hmm. . . .

What’s curious here is that the ‘good’ is often associated with the ‘familiar’ which can become a subtle and pervasive form of human discontent. The familiar enables us to tame, control and forget life’s mysteries. In familiarity, we’re able to stay away from the unknown that challenges us to grow and change beyond the confines of what we think we know. In familiarity, we can’t find our True Self because we become lost in a land that no longer invites surprises, new challenges, soulful nourishment and delight.

When we awaken to our inner life, we awaken to the reality that the ‘good’ is always here, but not always familiar. In fact, it’s somewhat alien because we’re usually disconnected from and fearful of it. In the seasons of soul; thanks, giving and receiving are not just for what we think we know. Rather, they’re for thanks, giving and receiving what we don’t know and in this not knowing, can come to know. It’s the wonder of this alternate reality that brings wisdom to our door, showing us the luminosity and liberation of Life in all its’ various forms.

So my friends, as you celebrate Thanksgiving in these waning moments of autumn, give yourself permission to receive the familiar ‘good’ you know and the unfamiliar ‘good‘ you don’t know. Smile, receive, give and appreciate all of it. Allow your journey to be your destination that you might “See the Good” and “Be the Good” in whatever ways it speaks to you. In the process, you will repeatedly discover the soulful blessings of thanks, giving and receiving. Blessings All Ways!

• In the time you have this week, reflect on what you’ve learned over the past four seasons of winter, spring, summer and autumn. What season of life speaks to you with the greatest clarity at this moment of your journey? How will you engage it? When and why?

• As you reflect on the above, use your journal to reflect on the ‘good’ that’s inviting you into the greater mysteries of Life. What might the unfamiliar be calling you to?

• Engage a conversation between your Soulful Self and your ego self. Notice how they come together and diverge. What’s your discernment going forward?

• If you choose, use this mantra to connect with the unknown in this day, week, month, year...

Listen... Follow... Observe... Wonder... Listen... Follow... Observe... Wonder...

Blessings,

Fr. Rick+