In this fifth Thanksgiving Day of the new millennium, I am filled with gratitude and thanks for cheating death another day. Life is the greatest gift of all and we tend to get so bogged down by the frustrations and minutia of day-to-day living that we lose sight of the bigger picture. That’s the really cool thing about Thanksgiving– regardless of your religion or personal philosophy, Thanksgiving is a day that calls each of us to step back from the tasks in our lives and to simply be grateful that we are alive. And it’s not even about being thankful for all the toys and crap we have in our lives, it’s about being thankful for Life itself and for that little spark of Life that infuses and animates the being of every living creature in the universe. As humans, we have a unique relationship with Life because we alone have the capacity to be grateful and thus enter into a unique and personal relationship with Life. And because we all share the same Life, regardless of our religion, ethnicity, or race, we are literally brothers and sisters.

My human brothers and sisters, let us lay aside our petty differences and earthly cares, even if only for this day, and recognize that we are all connected simply by virtue of being alive.

It is good to be here.