THANKSGIVING

THANKSGIVING

I have always loved this American holiday - a time to give thanks.  Using the verb - GIVING - implies that we must participate in an active way - how do we GIVE thanks?

For me, I think of this as a time to look at the great gift of life, to remember those who gave life to me - not just my parents, but all those holy men and women throughout my life who have GIVEN of themselves to lighten my load, to encourage me, to cheer and gladden me during dark days and troubled times.

This sense of gratitude is at the heart of all spirituality and it is also at the heart of all good children's books, for children's writers usually are writing out of something they have loved in this world...something they are grateful for, that they see as a gift, and so what do we want to do with a beautiful gift?  

Share it with others of course.

"The best way to know God is to love many things." Vincent Van Gogh

"

"All I want to say in books, all I ever wanted to say is, I LOVE THE WORLD"
E.B. White

"All of earth is crammed with Heaven."
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Happy Thanksgving!

SAINT BOOKS

SAINT BOOKS

" A book too, can be a star, a living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe."  Madeleine L'Engle

Some of my favorite SAINT BOOKS

I am hoping for some of these angels when I cook Thanksgiving dinner!

SAINT STORIES

SAINT STORIES

No wonder then, that as a little girl, I was drawn to stories of the saints, because so many of them were just like my beloved FAIRY TALES, showing how the IMPOSSIBLE becomes POSSIBLE.

  St. George fighting a fearsome dragon.

 St. Patrick being captured by pirates, escaping, and bringing Christianity to Ireland.

St. Francis taming the Wolf of Gubbio.








St. Christopher, a giant who had to cross a raging river with the Christ child on his shoulders.

Christopher. the Patron saint of Travelers,  was always one of my favorite saints - no matter that the church "demoted" him a few decades ago - his story is one that still resonates with me to this day, and I always have a St. Christopher medal in my car ( since I am severely geographically challenged, I need all the help I can get!).  And of course, I am married to a Christopher - he is not a saint yet, but....we are working on it!

Holiness

HOLINESS
or....

How we "shine like the sun!"

We often see pictures of saints surrounded by a halo.  This came about in the third century Christian church as a way of showing God's goodness shining through.

So, holiness has always had this link to light.  I have always loved Thomas Merton's way of viewing our humanity -

"There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun."  

In other words, he believed that, despite all our faults and flaws and failings, at our core, we are good because we are made in the image of GOODNESS.

A good exercise for us all is to consider ways that we do "shine like the sun for others," and also to ponder all those people in our lives who "shine like the sun for us."

When I was a child, teachers and parents would encourage us to pick one of the saints and emulate him or her, but nowadays I think we are more inclined to tell children that the world does not need another St. Francis or St. Patrick, rather it needs each of us to be holy in our own individual way - to share our unique gifts with the world in a way that allows us to be fully alive and fully human and fully true to our own inner essence and holiness.

My read aloud this month, St. Martin de Porres,  provides a lovely model of "holiness" for us all.

Martin conquers racial and economic prejudice with love and kindness - he is a Rose in the Desert - a beacon of hope - a light in the darkness!  

Many times, when I visit schools, children will clamor around me and ask, "Are you famous?"  It seems our culture worships fame and stardom - our children see how much fame and fortune surrounds our rock stars and movie stars, and no wonder that attracts them.  But perhaps we can show our little ones that there are other ways to be a "star" - other ways to "shine" in the world, by bringing more goodness into the world.

Surely that is a good job for us to give our children - no matter age, or gender, race, or creed - let us encourage them to....

be a light to others - a beacon of hope - a rose in the desert!