Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday, a day dedicated to feeling gratitude for all the good things we have received in life. One of the qualities I have noticed about being uplifted in pure Spirit, gratitude is always heightened. Everyone suffers to some degree in life, and our attitude about that suffering becomes a habit. Either you can focus on what is wrong to the exclusion of the blessings you have, or you can cultivate gratitude and count your blessings (instead of sheep as the Irving Berlin song goes).
This is a day set aside for counting our blessings and giving gratitude to God for what we have been given. In the early days of America citizens were asked to fast and pray if there was something gone wrong, from natural disasters such as droughts, all the way to a lost battle in a war. And when things were good it was to be celebrated with a feast of thanksgiving and prayer dedicated to the Creator.
Canada and the U.S. have different dates for the Thanksgiving holiday, but the spirit is the same. As I think of all the things I have to be thankful for, the list is very long. What stands first and foremost is that God and Guru plucked me out from the sea of darkness and ignorance and through long purification has made me know that, “I and my Father are one.”
Other thoughts of blessings are for the many kindred spirits God has brought me into close contact with so that we may all go to God together (this brings a thrill to my heart). And this very early morning as I write this it is freezing outside and a full moon is slowly sailing over the sky creating a moon river on the Saratoga Straights; I am so grateful to have a warm home and a keen appreciation for the beauty that lies right outside the frosty window pane.
I have been the recipient of so much love and ardent prayers, it humbles me to dust. I see the progress (perhaps more clearly than the individuals see in themselves) that so many aspirants are making in their realization of God; oh my spirit can barely contain itself in seeing this progress! I also see the way many limit themselves in their growth of consciousness. But I know that the seed of yearning will not be denied, and though the outer shell of the seed may resist the power of growth, soon the limiting shell will burst wide open as tender shoots reach out to the light.
I am truly thankful for the lifesaving role that allopathic medicine has recently played in my life. I have my criticisms of modern medicine, but there is no doubt that without blood transfusions and the promise of remarkable scans made of this body that can lead to effective treatment, my life has been saved by those who have dedicated so much of their lives to healing the sick.
These stand out to me as highlights of gratitude for all that has been given to me. I would only add that God has also given me service to perform in this world, and though this service may take its toll, I would have it no other way. It is such a great privilege to be His minister and serve Him in all forms as He directs me to do. To be His instrument brings about the greatest sense of fulfillment I have ever known. For this I deeply give thanks.
Thank you my dear friends for sharing in this journey with me and adding your light of God. A powerful and pure stone of truth can create a ripple effect that changes all creation. May our journey be such a rock of truth that all creation must improve in order to accommodate that absolute force of truth and love it emanates.
Health update:
Things have moved at a remarkable speed in what can be a stodgy medical system. I have become a patient of Dr. S., a specialist in internal organs and glandular medicine. His medical assistant described him in this way: some doctors have good communication skills but are not the best technical doctors, and some are technically great but have a poor ability to relate to others, Dr. S. has both, and adding something rather impolitic, I would not work for any other doctor here! When we were at another clinic the nurse had done her externship with Dr. S. and began to spontaneously sing praises of him as well!
On Monday when I first met the doctor he spent over an hour with Carla and me and described my case as very complicated, like someone encountering a puzzle he was excited to unravel. He ordered another CAT Scan that was done immediately after my appointment with him. He also ordered a PET Scan; he said it would take at least a week to be approved by insurance, and they may deny it altogether, but he felt the test was necessary. With the invaluable help of our insurance case manager the approval came in two days’ time and I am scheduled for this test on Friday. My hemoglobin count has gone down slightly from a ten to a nine but remains out of the danger zone.
The good doctor called me on his day off, the day before Thanksgiving, and he left a long message saying that the second CAT Scan showed I had a “telescoping intestine.” He seemed to indicate this may be the real culprit in the blood loss. He also mentioned that he found no evidence of a lesion on my liver, as the previous scan had suggested; it was speculated that the lesion might indicate metastatic cancer. His overall tone was cautiously optimistic. I will seem him again next Wednesday.
The fact the doctor’s medical assistant couldn’t believe I saw the doctor so quickly (he had a cancellation and I was put into that timeslot), that I was approved at all for the PET Scan and in such record time, that I had a CAT Scan scheduled an hour after my first doctor’s appointment, all indicate a higher power at work here that continues to daily amaze the very people who work in this field at the speed of my treatment. I know your continued prayers help clear the way of obstacles that may otherwise greatly delay or stymie the process. The one indecipherable aspect that runs contrary to this smooth flow of events is that my biopsy report from Las Vegas is still missing in action (Perhaps lending credence to the saying that what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas!). Dr. S. said that the most recent scans may render those results moot. A bit of a mystery there, but I am sure he will further explain next Wednesday.
An additional observation and point of gratitude: Carla has been a dharmic warrior throughout this process: asking questions, filling out endless forms, making multiple daily phone calls— keeping the machinery moving forward at as high a speed as possible. When the doctor talked about ordering the PET Scan Carla’s adamant reply, Yes! came out before the doctor had finished his sentence. It is an unfortunate state of affairs that oftentimes it is the squeaky wheel that gets attention, and Carla has brooked no opposition in getting treatment for this body. And fortunately the medical practitioners have always agreed; avoiding large transfusions of blood is highly desirable and has been a goal of theirs as well, which means things must happen in a timely way or it is likely I will need new blood in not too long a time.
In the big picture, all is surrendered to the will of God and my continuing prayer is that this be fulfilled for the highest good of all. So, my dear ones, may you have a blessed Thanksgiving and may the Grace of God, Christ, Gurus ever be upon you and fill you with inspiration and a keen sense of gratitude.