When we sit down at our Thanksgiving meal it is customary to thank the God of our choosing for our blessings. This year, let us consider this verse from the Book of Exodus in the Torah:
Be not like those who honor their gods in prosperity and curse them in adversity. In pleasure or pain, give thanks!
When faced with difficult persons or situations, we can see the kind hand of the Divine Mother and thank Her, if we learn to say, “Ah, Mother, it is you who are coming to me in this form for my spiritual growth and development! I accept you with love and grace knowing it to be you.” If we can see the Lord at all times in all places we will find ourselves in a perpetual state of gratitude. We will find our existence always full of sweetness as the sages declared in the Rig Veda:
Sweet blows the wind and the very oceans give forth blessedness,
May the herbs and plants bring us health and happiness,
Sweet unto us be the nights and dawns,
May every particle of the mother earth be charged with blessings,
May the heavens shower us with benediction,
Sweet unto us be the noble forest trees,
Sweet unto us be the radiant sun,
Sweet unto us be all the living creation.
May your Thanksgiving be filled with Mother’s blessings.
Yours in Mother,
Sarvadevananda