Joy-Full Thanks-Giving 2023

“send more” the easy internet seems to say
more than one picture and one poem this year
because there is so much to be thankful for
so we gave in
said more sent more

just glance and scroll
if you don’t have time to look and read

grandkids pictures first
whole group
then first grand and first great side by side
(the left is the father of the right)

then one poem about us (the finite)
and one about God (the inclusive infinite)

and finally the all-of-us picture at the end
with a clue or two about who is who

don’t bemoan the temporary
the limits        the end of life
for they are mortal gifts
instead        cherish and relish
the finite and the fleeting and the fragile
because they
in their sharp definition
their high resolution their tactile tangibility
set apart this world from eternity

we are finite in the infinite, fragile in the everlasting,
and that is the point of mortality.

time within eternity
entropy within centropy,
measure within the measureless
nothing lasts here
everything is ending

when we raise to the overview eye of faith
to this celestial-thought perspective
nothing is taken for granted
not the now or the before or the after
here        now
we have the dual gift of non-predictability
and non-preservability.

in the small faux-perspective of the ego-mind
we go to london thinking we’ll be back
or see just another flower
deflating present-ness and diluting the joy of the gift

when we confuse the finite with the infinite        we
diminish both.

it        whatever it is        could always be the last.
the balance could be a year or a half
or a decade and a half
the things we thought would never stop        will
the repeats may not

the finite        if we love it
makes it easier to repent
and forgive
and enjoy
and love

Inclusive
this thanksgiving we are appreciating the inclusive

another word for unity
the antonym of division
and the correct interpretation or paradigm
of restoration

the onlooking world gets it backwards
(and often so do we)
temples are exclusive
God saves the few
most are wicked and disqualified
sheep are in        goats are out
some have families        some don’t

all these are errors
of mortal shortsighted pseudo-division

prophet oaks said
our theology begins with Heavenly Parents
in that light who would interpret
gathering zion as separating the good kids from bad or
tiny celestial as walled off from everyone else or
exaltation as slipping in before the door closes

all these accuse god of being small and partial
the direct opposite of all that They are

oh God        please excuse
the absurdity of our petty time-bound judgements

instead let us look up
and let our spirits expand beyond our simpleness
all are in
all are Theirs
all can have all
in a place and a span where there is so much time
that there is none

the how has been calculated
all we must do is receive and accept and ac        and
we have incalculable forever to do so
we do it now not for qualification but for joy

none can exclude but themselves
and that is easier to understand than we think
after all
who would you deny
among your spiritual siblings?

…and now the full fam pic
sending thanks-giving to you
and for you…