Searchlights

I have been so busy and tired this year, that this holiday week has crept up on me like a lion in the night. How does anyone begin to corral their thoughts of how blessed and thankful they are? I am frozen in reverent silence.
 
I am relentlessly perched atop a mountain of knowledge and love that surrounds the birth of this time of Thanksgiving. I wrote about this last year too.
 
We all know the tradition of this holiday is modeled on a harvest feast in 1621 shared by the English colonists (Pilgrims) of Plymouth and the Wampanoag tribe. Rich in legend and symbolism, it is said that about 90 Indians joined the 50 colonists for a celebration that actually lasted three days.
 
Most of us do not know that when the Mayflower ship left Plymouth, England, in September of 1620, it carried 102 passengers. Their treacherous journey lasted 66 days.
 
Most of the colonists remained on board the ship that first brutal winter, where they suffered from exposure, scurvy, and contagious disease outbreaks. Only half of the Mayflower’s original passengers and crew lived to see their first New England spring.
 
The past few years have blanketed us with fear, and loss, and unspeakable suffering. The sacrifice of our forefathers renders me emotionally speechless every year.
 
No matter your age, the year, or the path of struggle you walk, life is not only a blessing but a challenge. We harness the energies of faith, family, and friends to endure the hard times and embrace the good times.
 
If you pause to imagine the possibility of losing half of your own personal universe like those on the Mayflower, your inner vision becomes a life-saving searchlight. And in that illuminating moment, you smile and realize – no, you remember – how incredibly blessed you are.
 
I am thankful for each of you who take ten minutes a week to share in my journey. It has given me hope, direction, and vision. May your harvest feast be bountiful with joy, love, and enlightenment.
 
Happy Thanksgiving!
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