Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Tag: Thanksgiving

  • The Spiral Path – Thanksgiving Day 2025

    Today is “Thanksgiving Day” in the US. The modern holiday was established by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, though the first Thanksgiving is often linked to the 1621 harvest feast shared by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people.

    Today is also the birthday of Eldon John Basham. As I write his name I have the thought, “Don’t ever name your child and call him or her by their middle name.” It makes a mess in the ordinary world.

    I am awake before daylight (the likely result of my having once again gone to bed about 2 hours earlier than my ‘normal’ bedtime). Alexa is shuffling songs by Alan Jackson as I start working on a jigsaw puzzle. This one is of The Major Arcana — a collection of 22 Tarot cards that unveil the fundamental archetypes of human existence.

    The subject of this puzzle opens up an inner dialog with what I came to call Holy Spirit many years ago as the name “God” dissipated in my thoughts and prayers. If I called out to God, whose God or which God would I be speaking to? YHWH is the Bible’s commonest name for God. Hinduism has the concept of 330 million gods, a symbolic number representing the infinite manifestations of the one supreme, formless reality called Brahman. There are the Greek Gods and the Roman Gods.

    To many Native Americans, the Great Spirit is a supreme, all-encompassing force or being that represents the essence of the universe and all living things. It is often viewed as the creator of the world, a life force that is present in nature, and a source of guidance and harmony. The specific name and interpretation can differ between tribes, but the concept emphasizes the interconnectedness of all existence and a universal, divine power. Perhaps my tiny bit of Native American blood (the wonders of modern DNA testing) mingled with my Christian beliefs to influence my heart’s landing on the term Holy Spirit.

    On this day I have so much to give thanks for and my heart also carries myriad impressions of the passing of my sister in January, and this past week of our long-time music friend, and the many dear ones navigating complex medical conditions — some at home and some hospitalized.

    This brings to mind the true befuddlement of worshiping an “omnipresent god” while noticing or pointing out all of the places god is not. Maybe there are not 330 million gods, but when asking myself how does my heart hold simultaneously all of the grief and relief on this day of thanksgiving, the only answer that seems honest is to say, “How could the heart not?”

    I saw this on the Facebook page of Daily Shaman:“If you’re looking for me, follow the stillness where the forest breathes between worlds. I walk the spiral path, where moss remembers and thresholds dream.”

  • Break Your Heart No Longer

    Here in the US today we are celebrating Thanksgiving Day.

    Last evening was a day of giving thanks in my heart as we shared time and great food with our daughter and son-in-love (Stacey and Doug), grandson and granddaughter-in-love (Brad and Christina), grandson and girl-friend-in-love (Adam and Rachael), granddaughter and great-grandson (Courtney and Jackson). Last year at this time we were navigating the shock of Jackson’s seizures and last night he was climbing up and down on the Little Tikes slide that will be a Christmas gift.

    One of the women at meditation on Tuesday morning shared this beautiful quotation:

    My beloved child, break your heart no longer.

    Each time you judge yourself, you break your heart.

    You pull away from the love that is the well-spring of your vitality.

    But now the time has come, your time, to live

    and to trust the goodness that you are…

    ~ Adapted from the teachings of Bapu-ji- as shared by kirpal venanji

    This speaks deeply of a true sense of thanksgiving. Within every set of conditions resides the potential for kindness and wisdom. I may need to say something that is hard for another to hear, but that can be said with kindness. Wisdom inspires the words, the tone of voice, the expression in the eyes. Every aspect of being can flow from a genuine sense of compassion and strength from within the heart and mind.

    I sent that quotation to our granddaughter a couple of days ago. She is in the planning process of making a home for Jackson as a single mom and it is scary and sad and a bit overwhelming. A lot of life is that.

    But she and Jackson are well loved and as I told her last night, he will have a better opportunity to thrive wherever she thrives.

    Reading from Conscious Divorce: Ending a Marriage with Integrity, by Susan Allison, “Making the decision whether or not to leave a relationship may be the most daunting part of the divorcing process; at least it is the one filled with the most anxiety. This is partly because divorce is a choice made of our own free will, and we sense the enormity of this responsibility. Also, confusion and indecision are uncomfortable for most of us. We want this initial stage to be over, so we can move on. At the same time, we realize that our choice will affect our partners, our families, and our friends; it will be a decision we must live with all our lives. We want to choose carefully.”

    Thomas Moore writes in Soul Mates, “Divorce is not a failure of the parties to maintain their commitments, but rather, evidence of the tendency of fate to spin us in different directions.”

    He goes on to say that the ending of a relationship can be recognized and experienced as a difficult rite of passage for the soul, and a true ending, not just a defensive withdrawal, that comes about not only through decisions but also with that spinning of fate and the turning of time.

    Years ago I wrote an Ode to Letting Go:

      I will not look back at our time together and see it all as bad. I will have the courage to call it all good – our coming together and our coming apart. I will honor your memory by remembering the growth that our relationship inspired. I will not insult either of us by insisting that it could have, should have, or would have been different. It was as it was. I will use this experience to affirm the beliefs I wish to guide my life by; All things work together for good. You are free. I am free. Be with your life lightly as I am with my own. Take not from here a false belief that you or I are less than what you are: a child of the universe, whole, holy, and loveable. Be tender with yourself as you make this adjustment, just as you would be tender with a body part as it heals.

      Look into the mirror often and recall the truth – I once loved you deeply. Though the feelings have waned as the moon – your worthiness (as my own) has neither diminished nor dissipated. I will always honor your memory. I will always cherish your soul. Go in peace. Live, grow, heal, and continue on your journey. For this time of our being together as husband and wife has ended but the ties that bind our hearts in love continue – even as the love at the center of all of life continues to hold us and guide us and heal us. Amen.

    So much to be thankful for…. everything is worthy of our thanks giving. Today, I am giving thanks for each of you.

    May each sentient being break our heart no longer.

    May all beings give thanks.

    May all beings know peace.

  • Grateful

    Even a wounded world is feeding us.
    Even a wounded world holds us,
    giving us moments of wonder and joy.
    I choose joy over despair.
    Not because I have my head in the sand,
    but because joy is what
    the earth gives me daily
    and I must return the gift.

    ~ Robin Wall Kimmerer

    WORD FOR THE DAY from Gratefulness.org

    My meditation this morning included listening to Ho’oponopono, chanted by Celeste Yacoboni, author of “How Do You Pray?”

    Listening and chanting along inspired a poem:

    How Do I Pray

    Prayer is so much more than bowing our heads or folding our hands. We pray by breathing in the life force our Earth Mother offers and releasing all that blocks that. Like evergreens, we pray by growing upwards. Like potatoes, we pray through roots deep down in the soil. Gratitude for our life, kindness toward all beings, generosity of spirit; wisdom, honesty, integrity, joy — each an example of prayer. As gravity holds us safely on our earth home, prayer holds us securely in the universal heart.

    Daily Aaron Quote for November, 26, 2020

    It’s very helpful to wake up each morning with the commitment, or even consecration, “I consecrate this mind and body to the light, to service to all beings for the highest good. Today may I be of service to others and do good for others and for myself. May I be loving to all beings with whom I am involved today, including myself.”

  • The Last Page

    Every day we pray for the willingness
    to make sane choices about our lives.

    ~ from the book Answers in the Heart

    We will be having left-over Thanksgiving for dinner tonight. Last evening, John and I shared the traditional fare with Janis and Larry!

    We bought the turkey. She roasted it. She made deviled eggs and gluten-free brownies. I made mashed potatoes, corn (cut off the cob), and lemon pie. We each steamed garden peas, and we made our own gravy. Larry shared his cranberry sauce with John.

    I even included two cloth Thanksgiving napkins along with my contributions. And, of course, chocolate chip cookies for Larry.

    Our dining room was on ZOOM, where we could see one another, and hear first-hand the murmurings and moans. The food was delicious, and the company was delightful. True thanksgiving.


    The four of us have been very mindful to avoid unnecessary exposure to the coronavirus. We mutually decided virtual was the best choice. It was Larry’s first Zoom experience. He said we will definitely have dinner together via Zoom while John and I are in Florida for the winter.

    I finished another journal.

    A mixture of emotions always accompanies the ritual of writing the date of the last entry on the cover. I chose to let a poem be my final entry.

    Truth-be-told, the poem was begun on the evening of November 21, 2020, and completed on the morning of November, 22, 2020.

    Perhaps the poem, like our virtual thanksgiving, is a bridge:

      The Last Page

      Years of journals
      Pages yellowed from
      Decades of moments
      Unfolding like
      Butterfly’s virgin wings

      Each new volume
      Filled with possibilities
      Nothing hidden
      Raw experience splayed out
      Telling the ancient tales

      Momentous occasions
      Now lie perfectly flat
      Letters etched with
      Precious precision
      Fading with great haste

      Someday perhaps
      These words will land
      Upon lips of one who can
      Treasure what was
      Just because it still is

      … within the heart

      Debra Basham 11-22-2020

    The first page of the new journal begins with: One week from today we expect to head to Florida. Willing to have all of that go easily and safely. The greatest unknown is seeing the kids. Weather will play a role in all of that.


    Word for the Day
    What gives me hope
    is that life unfailingly responds
    to the advances of love.

    ~ Nipun Mehta

    The final words on that first page in the new journal are from the “voice” (what I call Holy Spirit):

    Intend, invite, inspire!

    We are helping you.

    Remember, your faith is verifiable.

  • It Is Only Mud!

    I was going to stop at a nearby apple stand on the way to my doctor’s appointment, but was a wee bit tight on time. Thanksgiving would be missing something without my mom’s Dutch apple pie. It is my contribution to bring Michigan apples to Tennessee for the pies.

    I had just loaded my precious apples into the front seat of my van when another customer arrived. The man had a couple of questions about the varieties and prices, and since he assumed I am a person who knows something, I helped him make his selection.

    As I came back around my van to get into the driver’s seat, I noticed another vehicle in the circle drive way across the lawn. A woman was standing in front of it, looking stressed.

    I called over to her, “Do you need some help?”

    Nodding her head, she called back, “Yes, we are stuck.”

    Thinking I was just doing some quick in-and-out-of-the-car errands, I had no hat or gloves. The wind was brisk as I walked across the lot.

    A younger man, perhaps a son, was on his hands and knees, digging behind the back tire with a small stick. Dressed only in athletic shorts and a light jacket, he was down on the cold, damp ground.

    “We could use some cardboard,” the woman said.

    I hiked back across the lawn, and opened the back of my van. I knew I had unloaded some cardboard boxes earlier, sending them to recycling. I grabbed the only thing in there—a white rag rug. By standing on tip-toe, and leaning over the counter into the apple stand, I was able to reach a small board that had “PEACHES” painted on one side.

    I hiked back across the lawn, clutching the rug in one hand and the board in the other.

    The woman looked at the rug and shook her head, “I don’t want to get your rug muddy….”

    “It is only mud,” I pointed out.

    I was finally able to convince them we could use the rug under one tire and the board under the other for traction. Cautioning the woman to step on the gas very slowly, I went to the front of her vehicle to push. She got in, put the vehicle in reverse, and I pushed.

    Success!

    It is our experience that if we feel hateful, we act hatefully. If we feel loving, we act lovingly. Likewise, if we truly feel that everything and every one is an expression of the same one Reality that we ourselves are, we will act accordingly and will quite literally behave towards others as we would behave towards ourselves.

    (The Transparency of Things, by Rupert Spira)

    Today is only November 19, but the season of kindness has already arrived.

    This year, let’s see if we can all remember it is only a rug, and it is only mud, whatever it is. Let’s be intentional to have kindness last until this time next year, and then let’s start the season of kindness all over again.

    Here is the freshly washed rug, no worse for the wear.