11/26/15

I volunteered to serve at the Thanksgiving mass, which was nice. Fr. Michael gave a great homily about being mindful of all the little miracles in our lives, the things that we tend to miss when we're self-absorbed and not paying attention. Despite all the bad in the world, there's always something for us to be thankful for and always some good we can do. I spent the rest of the morning on dish duty at St. Philip's Thanksgiving dinner.

Every year, they host a meal on Thanksgiving for those with nowhere to go or no one to eat with. Many of the people who come are homeless, but many are just people who don't have any friends or family to share the holiday with, or else people who simply like the sense of community. A group of people from New Seasons prepare a lot of the food, and the rest is donated by members of the parish. They also collect things like socks, scarves, hats, etc. for anyone who can use them. Last year, I helped serve. This year, I was on clean up duty with Dan from the young adult group since no one else wanted that honour.


They say that it's better to give than to receive; and while I might have disagreed with that as a kid, I definitely agree with it today. I don't have much to offer, but I get a lot of joy from giving, even if it's just a bit of my time. Generosity is truly a treasure:

And what is the treasure of generosity? There is the case of a disciple of the noble ones, his awareness cleansed of the stain of stinginess, living at home, freely generous, openhanded, delighting in being magnanimous, responsive to requests, delighting in the distribution of alms. This is called the treasure of generosity. (AN 7.6)