This cycle of our spiritual ("liturgical") year comes to a close today. This spiritual cycle begins with Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, and ends with Thanksgiving. Of course, these are totally arbitrary dates, but they make sense in the cycle of Life. We are moving into the darkest nights of the year, preparing for and focusing on Light. By the time we celebrate Christmas, they days - though still short - will be noticeably longer. Light will be more apparent, and we will once again be assured that Life will continue to grow and flourish.

 

How has this year's spiritual journey been for you? If we were on an actual airplane journey, the flight attendants would be collecting our trash and asking us to turn off our devices, return our seats to their upright positions, and begin to prepare for arrival at our destination point. So it seems like a good time to do just exactly that: prepare to let go of the excess "stuff" we accumulated during the past year, to take a break from email, posting, tweeting, and pinning, find an alert and upright posture, and be fully present. Today is a day we are "allowed" to rest, to enjoy good company, and to be nourished.

 

Once upon a time, I thought of Life - my life - as a journey traveled from one point (the point of my birth) to another (the unknown moment of death). It is a fact that my human journey as Nita began in 1954 in a little town in Missouri and that this human journey as Nita will end at some unknown point. I now realize, however, that in Truth, Life - our One, Eternal Life - is a series of cycles. Just as the tides rise and recede, just as the seasons fade into and out of each other, just as the moon orbits the earth and the earth orbits the sun, we grow and rest, we forget and remember, we sleep and awaken.

 

As this particular cycle draws to a close, I pause to consider my intentions. There are things I thought I wanted to do that I did not do. Opportunities arose and I said yes. I learned that saying "Yes!" is a good thing, and I learned that saying "yes" to anything also carries within it an inherent "No!" to other things. I learned that it is wise to consider both before answering. There were plenty of lessons learned, some lessons taught, and many others not yet understood. I have always, on some level, considered Life to be like school, and this is the time of year I tend to pause and consider my curriculum. Along the way, I have learned the wisdom of not assigning grades. We just can't really know the ultimate ripples of things from our limited human perception, so I just prefer to say, "Yay, Us!". We did whatever we did the best we could in each moment.

 

As I've been teaching recently, our lives are our prayers, and can be lived along the same process as our "Five-Step Prayer" process. We begin with relaxation- finding balance and a point of restful receptivity. From this relaxed state, we begin to concentrate our energies, to focus on that which seems most important, helpful, or useful in any given moment. We take that focus into contemplation, into meditation, and allow ourselves to be still. We pause. We listen. We allow. Then there comes the point of realization: Oh! That's how that works... Ah! I see now... Then, there is gratitude. Life well-lived is life lived from a state of appreciation, not necessarily "because" of anything in particular, but just as an aspect of the Divine We Are. Of course, it is Thanksgiving, and there is something within which enjoys sharing...

 

I Am so blessed by my family members - my family of origin and my family of choice - people with whom I have shared this journey since 'forever' and who bring such love into my experience.

 

I Am thankful for the steadfastness of friends who travel alongside me on this journey of Life.

 

I Am VERY appreciative of the new friends who have shown up along this path we share.

 

I AM grateful to enjoy the experience of good health and abundance which is our shared birthright.

 

I AM infinitely blessed by the beauty which is emerging as our shared gathering space is transforming into our shared spiritual home.

 

I AM thankful and I appreciate each one of you who have asked questions or shown up in classes or in any way acted as catalysts along my path of learning. You have helped my own understanding of Spirit to deepen.

 

I AM very, very blessed by the wisdom of my teachers, those now present in human form and those who walked this path ahead of us, leaving breadcrumbs and Light along the way for us to follow. I am especially thankful for those teachers who did not necessarily know they were my teachers, and by the example of their lives taught (and continue to teach) so eloquently.

 

I am very blessed by your presence in my life, whoever you are, wherever you are, and however it is you came to be in my life during this human journey. Thank you.