In this next month, I will commit myself to doing more to preserve the planet by reducing my resisting the pressure to join the orgy of consumption that leads to the misuse of the earthís resources in the production of holiday gifts that are often quite unnecessary. I will join the Network of Spiritual Progressives as a member, and I will spread its message that Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza, and other December holidays should not be about giving gifts of ìthingsîówhich in a class society always leads people to feel inadequate for not having bought enough or received enough of the expensive items that are being promoted for sale. Instead, I will to the greatest extent possible give gifts of my time (e.g. some amount of hours to provide something my friends or neighbors actually wantóto this one, child care, to that one, help in food shopping, to another, help with an elderly parent, to yet another, help in painting part of their house or helping with their garden or teaching their children some skill or sport, or in some other way sharing oneís time in a way that the particular person receiving the gift would actually need and benefit from), and I will let others know that it is that kind of gift that I most wish to receive.
I rejoice in the goodness of all that I am, of all that I have been able to experience, of the goodness of my family and friends, of all the amazing and wonderful people I have been blessed to meet or to encounter through their writing, art, and music. Iíve been blessed in all the bounty, wisdom, pleasure and joy, and even from the painful lessons and disappointments, that I have inherited from the universe and from my family and from all that I have come to experience and know. I am grateful for the generosity of the universe. And I renew my commitment to bring more love, more kindness, more open-heartedness, more non-violence, more peace, more social justice, more environmental sensitivity, and more gratitude into the life that I live, into my encounters with others, and into the world that I am helping to shape, and into the consciousness that I bring to each aspect of my life.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all this and for much more beyond all that I can put into words.
With warm wishes for a meaningful Thanksgiving experience.
Michael
Rabbi Michael Lerner Editor, Tikkun www.tikkun.org Chair, The Network of Spiritual Progressives (with Sister Joan Chittister and Prof. Cornel West) www.spiritualprogressives.org Author: The Left Hand of God: Taking Back our Country from the Religious Right RabbiLerner@tikkun.org
Please feel free to circulate this, post it on websites, and/or to rewrite in any way that makes this truly an expression of your deepest feelngs and thoughts of Thanksgiving. And please help promote this way of thinking by supporting with tax-deductible gifts or by joining The Network of Spiritual Progressives, which you can join or donate to on line at www.spiritualprogressives.org or by writing to us at Tikkun, 2342 Shattuck Ave, Suite 1200, Berkeley, Ca. 94704. phone: 510-644-1200
Rabbi Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun and national chair of the Tikkun Community/ Network of Spiritual Progressives.
People are invited to subscribe to Tikkun magazine or join the interfaith organization the Network of Spiritual Progressives-- "both of which can be done by going to www.tikkun.org
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