Lost at Sea
Man, it has been an amazing couple of weeks. Come along for the ride.
My wife and I went to visit my family for Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving. It has always been one of my favorite holidays. Gatherings of family. Lots of good food. Giving thanks. Football. What more could you ask for in a holiday? I much prefer it to Christmas. Shopping. Gifts. Music. Over-commercialization. Greed. Ringing bells. Hypocrisy. Why is it that people give more to charities at Christmas than any other time of the year? Oh yeah. I forgot guilt.
Don't get me wrong. I love the original reason for Christmas, and dislike the original reason for Thanksgiving. I love celebrating the birth of Christ. That was, like, a major good thing. The earth was blessed by the presence of Christ, and we should be happy about that. I also think we should celebrate the birth of Buddha. And Muhammad. And Krishna, and Moses, and Zoroaster. And of course The Bab and Baha'u'llah, since I am a Baha'i. Any time God sends a messenger to us is a blessed Day.
Thanksgiving on the other hand, doesn't really publicize the fact that Europeans came to the "New World" and would have starved without help from indigenous peoples, then turned around and slaughtered them, betrayed them, herded them onto little forsaken tracts of land that nobody else would want. Until, of course, there was either oil or gold or some other thing found on it.
So if we separated Thanksgiving from the Pilgrim/Indian theme, I'd be fine with that. And if we separated Christmas from the shopping/Santa theme, I'd be fine with that.
Anyway, Thanksgiving was wonderful with my mother and sister and nieces. We had good food. I installed a programmable thermostat for my mom. We watched Shrek 2. Great day! Then we came home for a couple of Baha'i events. Friday was a Baha'i Holy Day, the Day of the Covenant. That is where we celebrate the fact that God sent us Baha'u'llah, who made a covenant with us that outlined the exact succession to his son 'Abdu'l-Baha. This is the first time the succession of a religion has been so explicit, and the purpose is to prevent schism since the Baha'i Faith is all about unity. That is a good thing to celebrate and give thanks for.
Later that evening we went to a Baha'i study circle. It is like a Bible Study, I guess you could say. We are studying a book called Reflections on the Life of the Spirit, and you don't have to be a Baha'i to learn about and discuss that. Well, one person at that study circle decided that they wanted to become a Baha'i. Another thing to give thanks for.
Saturday was a day for my wife and I to spent together. We played some pool, went to one of her favorite restaurants, and had a nice date. More to give thanks for.
Sunday I had a job interview. And was hired on the spot. More to give thanks for, after 11 months of unemployment.
Now I've started working, and getting into the job is a very busy time. So all these things have kept me too busy to journey here to blogland. I wanted to say hello, that I hadn't given up, and that I'd be back soon with reflections on how difficult being a spiritual man is. For those that say men have everything, stay tuned.
My wife and I went to visit my family for Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving. It has always been one of my favorite holidays. Gatherings of family. Lots of good food. Giving thanks. Football. What more could you ask for in a holiday? I much prefer it to Christmas. Shopping. Gifts. Music. Over-commercialization. Greed. Ringing bells. Hypocrisy. Why is it that people give more to charities at Christmas than any other time of the year? Oh yeah. I forgot guilt.
Don't get me wrong. I love the original reason for Christmas, and dislike the original reason for Thanksgiving. I love celebrating the birth of Christ. That was, like, a major good thing. The earth was blessed by the presence of Christ, and we should be happy about that. I also think we should celebrate the birth of Buddha. And Muhammad. And Krishna, and Moses, and Zoroaster. And of course The Bab and Baha'u'llah, since I am a Baha'i. Any time God sends a messenger to us is a blessed Day.
Thanksgiving on the other hand, doesn't really publicize the fact that Europeans came to the "New World" and would have starved without help from indigenous peoples, then turned around and slaughtered them, betrayed them, herded them onto little forsaken tracts of land that nobody else would want. Until, of course, there was either oil or gold or some other thing found on it.
So if we separated Thanksgiving from the Pilgrim/Indian theme, I'd be fine with that. And if we separated Christmas from the shopping/Santa theme, I'd be fine with that.
Anyway, Thanksgiving was wonderful with my mother and sister and nieces. We had good food. I installed a programmable thermostat for my mom. We watched Shrek 2. Great day! Then we came home for a couple of Baha'i events. Friday was a Baha'i Holy Day, the Day of the Covenant. That is where we celebrate the fact that God sent us Baha'u'llah, who made a covenant with us that outlined the exact succession to his son 'Abdu'l-Baha. This is the first time the succession of a religion has been so explicit, and the purpose is to prevent schism since the Baha'i Faith is all about unity. That is a good thing to celebrate and give thanks for.
Later that evening we went to a Baha'i study circle. It is like a Bible Study, I guess you could say. We are studying a book called Reflections on the Life of the Spirit, and you don't have to be a Baha'i to learn about and discuss that. Well, one person at that study circle decided that they wanted to become a Baha'i. Another thing to give thanks for.
Saturday was a day for my wife and I to spent together. We played some pool, went to one of her favorite restaurants, and had a nice date. More to give thanks for.
Sunday I had a job interview. And was hired on the spot. More to give thanks for, after 11 months of unemployment.
Now I've started working, and getting into the job is a very busy time. So all these things have kept me too busy to journey here to blogland. I wanted to say hello, that I hadn't given up, and that I'd be back soon with reflections on how difficult being a spiritual man is. For those that say men have everything, stay tuned.
posted by Bill @ 8:42 AM
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