My kids know really cool things.
Last year my son who is now a senior took an Astronomy elective. One
of the things they did was a scale model of the Solar System. Not the
kind that you make out of Styrofoam balls and wire coat hangers but a
scale model that gave them some idea of the magnitude of space and
the distances between us and our neighbors. They placed the sun in
the middle of the high school football field and then they walked for
about a block before they were far enough away to put Earth into the
model. By the time they were done mapping our planetary system they
walked a good bit of our little community.
This year one of my younger sons, a fifth grader, is learning about
the makeup of atoms and molecules. He came home one day and told me
that they too used the high school football field to demonstrate
distance, this time showing inner space. They learned that if the
center of an atom was in the middle of the football field, the first
particle to orbit the nucleus would begin its orbit at the end zone.
The lesson being that what appears to be solid matter really is
mostly empty space.
So what does all that have to do with giving thanks? Everything. No
matter where we are in our marriages and our careers and our
relationships with children, family, and friends the fact that we
exist at all is amazing beyond words.
Look at your hand, your desk, the people around you. All looking so
solid and separate. And yet, if the atoms that comprise our physical
beings are mostly empty space, then are we really as separate as we
seem? Or is the dividing line between you and me and all of creation
blur just a little?
Go outside, wherever you are – no – don't look out the window. Take
five minutes and go outside. Look at the sky. The clouds, the sun,
the snow, the rain. Check out the grass and the trees and the
buildings and the people. The animals. Breathe. Even if you are in
the middle of a major metropolitan area and the air is less than
crystal clear, breathe. We are unique in our solar system. No other
planet has just the right conditions to sustain life as we know it.
And as big as everything looks to you standing out there staring at
the sky, we are but a tiny speck of dust (much like Whoville)
whirling through icy space pulled by powers beyond our control or
comprehension.
And is it possible that this beautiful miraculous blue speck we call
home is the particle in some larger structure? What if our solar
system is an atom in a greater design?
This time of year with all the cooking and cleaning and shopping
(even if it's just for boots because the snow caught you unaware and
you trashed last year's collection in a cleaning frenzy) is
stressful. Whatever holidays you celebrate the added effort creates
anxiety. Wherever we are in our marriages it can seem doubly hard to
stay on track crafting a relationship that is fulfilling and
connected.
Tomorrow we in the US celebrate Thanksgiving. The day set aside to
call to mind the blessings of the past year, the bounty we have
harvested. I would invite you to find a moment of quiet where you can
pause and ponder the wonder of life. No matter where you are or how
terrible the struggle (and I know for many of you it is terrible)
life is a gift. If just for a moment, feel the wonder and the awe of
that miracle.
Give thanks.
Penny
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