For the gift of life, thanks

I’m older now, having had a birthday yesterday. I can’t vouch for the wiser part.

I am among the many who were born within the holiday season; three occasions for celebration fall within a few days of one another. I have never really felt cheated, but all the gift giving happens at once and we have to wait a whole year for the next round.

But celebrations are more than gifts. Christmas, birthday and the New Year are important occasions marking the round of the year and a milestone on our journey through life.

If there is such a thing as a lull between Christmas and New Year’s, the Dec. 29 would be about it. It is a good time to pause, contemplate, and give thanks. The season is a time that draws family, friends and communities together. A birthday adds a special moment that is very personal. Getting together for visits, celebrations and parties, immerses us within the family of humanity in a way that lifts our spirits and affirms the goodness of life. For that I give thanks.

The togetherness can also be a stark reminder of the one or ones who are no longer with us. For Emily and I, it has been a dark year with the illness and death of Jonathan. You always knew when Jonathan was around. We ache with his absence. Yet Jonathan’s life was a great gift. In the midst of the pain, we give thanks.

In a larger sense we remember all those who were part of the fabric of our lives but are with us no longer: parents, siblings, friends. But we remember them with thanks for what they have bequeathed to us, from the miracle of life itself to the enrichment and enlargement of living. And a special thanks to all those who have been a part of our lives but are no longer because of distance, time and cir- cumstance – and a special confession of a high introvert who is not good at keeping contact.

At Christmas, or whatever your significant occasion is, we, if we pause at all, can reflect on our heritage. We are here because of all that has gone before us. We are thankful for the wondrous Universe that has given us our earth and sun and made life possible. Then there are the ages of human evolution that have brought us to this moment in time. It boggles the mind, and humbles the spirit, to think upon all that humanity has created and endured over the eons. Civilizations have come and gone. Out of our mostly violent history we have hewn cultures and religions that have pushed forward what it means to be human.

Human creativity has brought us soul shaping music, art, literature, theatre. Modern science and technology have given us a standard of living that over the ages was unimaginable. Our religions have kept us in touch with that mysterious beyond and given us the moral insights that make us human. Christians, and those of the West generally, owe much to the humble peasant from Galilee whose birth we have just celebrated. Each age and stage has added its essence to the growing ocean of human experience, and the insight and wisdom gained from it. We reap the benefits of all that they have accomplished; and we bear the burden where they have failed.

To feel oneself in the great flow of the Universe, and in the day by day and year by year living of life, strengthens and enlarges one’s spirit and vision. An overwhelming thankfulness is the only possible response.

Humans are essentially good and compassionate, until all the crud of life gets in the way. In times of tragedy, illness or bereavement people are there to help and comfort. We have experienced that in rich abundance this year. Our neighbours on our road, the people of Brookfield, friends from all over, our Seekers group, and our Fiddle group (three baskets of goodies, along with an abundance of love, suddenly appeared). We are over- whelmed. Thank you all.

I am personally thankful for another year of my own life. My parents who birthed me – on the coldest day on record, according to the story – brought me up, and bequeathed to me the values and vision that have carried me through life. My two sisters and a brother have helped shape me, nourish and inspire me. Only brother Walter is left, and our constant email conversations, and his great stories, ground me and help me know I have come from a long Scottish tradition that has its unique manners and ways; the partners with whom I have shared life, and especially in these latter years, Emily, who partners and nourishes my soul; and the rich blessing of children, my five and Emily’s three (now two), provide a gladness of soul. And our 11 grandchildren, with the vigour of childhood, give us delight and hope for the future.

With Tennyson, “I am a part of all that I have met.” And all that I have met is part of me.

Thanks be for all that was, is, and will be.