Thanksgiving occurs in the U.S. very shortly. How lovely to have a time to give thanks. Don’t you wish we did it more often?
I received more notes of thanks this year than ever before.
As I considered what to share with you this week, I was influenced by Thanksgiving to tell you a parable I heard several years ago. Because giving thanks is just the beginning.
A group of pilgrims were searching for the holy land. They wandered for days and finally reached the
bank of a very deep river.
The river was too deep to wade across, and they carried nothing with them to build a raft.
One of the pilgrims prayed, and a voice answered urging each to give up something they held dear. From this they could build a raft. For only the things they held dear would be strong enough to hold them up as they crossed into the holy land.
You know how this part of the story goes; some of the pilgrims doubted the voice. Some of them thought the pilgrim who heard the voice was actually trying to steal their valuables.
Four agreed to follow the directions of the voice, and each offered something that seemed useless a stone, a feather, a piece of driftwood, a page from a book no one understand anyhow.
They slept after their work and mysteriously all the dearness they had placed in these objects had melded together, and they had a magnificent raft in the morning.
Off the four went to the other side, and as they landed, they heard the voice again. It said the holy land they sought was right where they had landed.
The voice told them, “The holy land is whatever you hold dear that holds you up.”
The wisdom in this ancient myth tells us this: What we fear to surrender, what is most private, belongs to everyone. Once shared, the things we hold dear release their power.
Release your power. That which you hold dear only becomes more so when you surrender your fear and share.
May you and yours not only give thanks, but also share that which is so precious to you this holiday season and always.