Get togethers with family and friends, how should I prepare? We'll need to watch for sales and simpler menus. Maybe plan on more festive music and conversation topics. Time to make a list of the good things in our life. So, we'll need to travel to our hearts.
We thank our friends, family, and Creator for forgiveness. Remember the times we neglected to call or write the long-time friend who moved away or was having a time of troubles or was in a depression. Remember cancelling a recent acquaintance just because their political and religious views were different than ours. Remember avoiding a neighbor who was old or dressed poorly or was handicapped.
Remember belittling our father because he didn't make $100,000 a year and have a big house and expensive new car. Remember thinking that our mother was not as smart as we were and always needed to be interested in our life choices. Remember knowing that our parents were old-fashioned in their thinking when they advised us what actions to take to live a good and productive and happy life. Remember taking our spouse for granted and dwelling on their faults. Remember halflistening to our children or dreading having to take care of another of their problems or spending more time with them. Remember thinking that having children would hurt our own ability to prosper or that we didn’t have the ability to care for them. Remember fighting with our brothers and sisters over what our parents left us when they were dead. Remember the desire for revenge on whoever insulted or hurt us, even if it was years ago.
Remember forgetting to say 'I love you' to those who truly cared for us. Remember our disrespect for the vocations of good teachers, police, and clergy. Remember not welcoming the stranger. Remember feeling that God wasn’t important in our lives and that we didn’t owe Him devotion and obedience or that He really didn’t love us.
We thank our friends, family, and Creator for still having a relationship with us. We thank them for seeing and understanding our defects, our learning and trying to do better, our being only human. We thank those special ones who still sacrifice for us, love us, and even enjoy being with us.
Today's lesson: Life is a journey we make together, to grow and mature in grace and wisdom and love.