Thankful and No One to Thank

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I mentioned in an earlier blog that I would write another explaining to who or what I am thankful.

The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti

There's an article over on About.com's Atheism site about Thanksgiving and atheists, arguing against the belief that atheists have no one to thank during the holiday. While the article brings up some valid points, siting as targets for our gratitude such things as people, scientists, modern medicine and technology, etc., as usual, the atheist persona online is a very stoic one. Matter-of-fact.

For me and, without a doubt many others, it's simply not the whole picture.

Yes, I thank the farmers who made the meal possible, the turkey who gave its life (unwillingly and unwittingly)... and not just at Thanksgiving. The people and animals who provide us sustenance are always at the top of my Thank You List, every day of the year.

But what about a particularly beautiful sunrise, or even an ugly one? (Is there such a thing?) A wispy cloud and a light breeze that takes me back 20 years to an almost-forgotten memory? A show put on by a group of birds dancing and twirling in the air over a rush hour-clogged street? A day which, for reasons unknown, is a particularly good one, where everything just seems to click?

For some things, there really is no one to thank, and yet I am still thankful. To whom or what you might ask.

To which I might respond, "Does it matter?"

So, during this month of Thanksgiving, I am thankful to the tangible, the people, animals, scientists, etc., for their particular contributions to life on Earth. I am also thankful to the less tangible and often nameless but no less important forces that govern life.. Mother Nature. Fate. Luck. Happenstance. The Universe. Everything. Nothing in Particular.*

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*I assign no supernatural power to these things. Some are not even "real" (fate, for example), and yet there is a definite lack in our vocabulary to describe their equal and so I use the words anyway. Some atheists would cringe at my nod to "Mother Nature." I do not believe that nature is female, nor that there is a Mother Goddess, etc. However the symbolism of the female figure giving and nurturing life is a wonderful one that can be viewed in the same way Einstein viewed the harmony of the universe.

Autumn, Thankfully

Autumn.. arguably one of the finest seasons of the year. Autumn is one of my favorites.

“Summer ends, and Autumn comes, and he who would have it otherwise would have high tide always and a full moon every night.”
~Hal Borland

Saying autumn is one of my favorites isn't saying much, as I claim each season as "one of my favorites." I like them all, each of the seasons, for their own beauties and bounties. Spring for its temperate breezes and renewal of life. Summer for its clear skies and vibrant energy. Autumn for its varied colors and crisp air. Winter for its dark calm and permission to stay indoors.

This morning, a friend on Facebook asked that people leave a comment listing things for which they are most thankful (in preparation for the American tradition of Thanksgiving coming up at the end of November).

A more appropriate question for me would be: what are you not thankful for. The answer would be, "Not much." Good and Bad. Yin and Yang. Summer and Winter. I am grateful for them all and everything in between.

"According to yin and yang theory, there is a permanent tendency to balance between opposite forces. Right and wrong, winter and summer, they always contain some of its opposite and are always interacting. According to this, there is nothing completely good or completely bad, and there is nothing permanent. All opposite aspects are always going through a cycle and looking for balance between each other."

~Yin and Yang-The Opposites in Balance

It might seem glib, but I mean it with 100% sincerity. (To who or what I am thankful can be left for another blog on another day! :)

For many people in this world, there is certainly more sorrow than joy. I do not necessarily speak of being thankful when one's land is taken away by corporations, or when one must work in a factory 12 hours a day for mere pennies so that people half a world away can have stuff. Rather, I speak from my own experiences.

(One might argue that happiness and gratitude are relative to one's own experiences; while I think anyone, in any situation, is capable of feeling happiness and gratitude, even in something as "simple" as a sunrise, an embrace, or a large plush toy, I do not wish to trivialize that kind of pain which I can only imagine.)

Life for many of us has been made simpler through modern conveniences and technology, to the point we might think we will never know again what it is to truly struggle. But, nothing, other than the changing nature of everything, is permanent, not even our current state of ease. Can we be thankful for what we have whilst not being equally thankful for the changes that made it possible, and the changes that are inevitable?

दुक्ख

~The Four Noble Truths and Dukkha

Would spring be as enjoyable if it wasn't a respite after a harsh winter? How sweet would laughter be if it did not occasionally follow tears of grief? Would dessert be as wonderful if it came before dinner rather than after?

It's true that sometimes dessert should come before dinner.. or take its place entirely! Were it to do so every time, however, dessert would lose its special oomph. We might in time come to view dessert as the thing we have to get through in order to get to the good stuff... like Brussels sprouts.

One might say, then, that to keep things in their right order, we should be immensely grateful for life's Brussels sprouts

so that we can better appreciate its Sex in a Pan

(btw, I tried and tried to find a recipe for Sex in a Pan NOT using crappy boxed pudding or cool whip. It can't be found. That must be changed! I will post one very soon!!)