It is the best time of the year – the seasons of thanks and giving. For me it’s particularly meaningful when I consider how quickly one follows the other and the relationship between the two holidays that mark the end of the year.
If the 4th of July is Independence Day, Thanksgiving could just as easily be called Dependence Day. It is the time we set aside to formally recognize something we should acknowledge every day with every breath we breath.
All of life and everything in life is a gift.
The essence of life is a chain of love, which binds all things together. Plants and animals trade atoms and air – oxygen for hydrogen, hydrogen for oxygen – in a mutual exchange of life. The water that falls on the earth passes through and is collected in the rivers, lakes, and oceans until it rises to fall again. The earth too must give so that it can receive.
I know this better than most. I often think there would be little left of me if I subtracted the contributions others have made to my life.
Our interdependence is what gives meaning and purpose to our lives. Much has been said on this subject but no one has said it better than Henry Emerson Fosdick.
“The Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea are made of the same water,” Fosdick said. “It flows down clear and cool from the heights of Hermon and the roots of the cedars of Lebanon. The Sea of Galilee makes beauty of it for the Sea of Galilee has an outlet; it gets to give…but the Dead Sea with the same water makes only horror, for the Dead Sea has no outlet; it must keep its bounty.”
You must add the contributions you have made to others’ lives—too many to count, Bill. How lucky I was to meet you at the tender age of 20. Thank you for helping shape my life!
Thanks, Marian. My pleasure. We were able to do some remarkable things together. You gave more than you got.
Ditto – I am thankful for my dependance, thanks and giving to you, Angie, Will, Katie and Sammy! You are vital.