It was Thanksgiving last week and I found myself feeling so grateful for the time of this very long holiday weekend. There has been so much going on for so many months now and some of the holidays have been so busy sometimes that in a way they haven't felt like times of relaxation. I'm used to going every day for long hours and working over the weekends too, but sometimes we need time to just be and just enjoy peace and quiet, long walks, doing something different or doing something just for fun. Sometimes we need time for ourselves without feeling like we have to do something else right now.
This past week when the holiday arrived, a few things happened that gave me a chance to just enjoy the days and to feel gratitude for the time that I had. As I began to look with the eyes of gratitude and to remember that Thanksgiving is a time for being grateful for the provision of God, I could feel myself relaxing into the enjoyment of life in a way that I wish I could do every day. It's something that is available to us, but so often the world crowds out that feeling, with people and things calling for our attention and telling us that their schedule is more important than anything else. Over this past Thanksgiving weekend I've been so grateful to feel the presence of God in my life and to know that God's timing is always best and that though I may not understand how or when or what is going on from moment to moment, when I can surrender and allow God to be God everything works out in a way that I could not have understood how to arrange myself, because God knows the end from the beginning and has orchestrated everything perfectly.
A number of years ago I wrote a blog post about how God brings everything around to be more than fine and over these past few days I've allowed God to speak that to my heart and keep me calm as I walk through this time. It was time for a holiday makeover for YES Gallery, and just before I began to put up the ornaments and rearrange things to create some glowing vignettes, I took a walk through the gallery to create a video while I was playing Chuck Mangione's "Chase The Clouds Away" on my vintage stereo. It had been a while since I'd recorded the experience of the gallery in this way and it seemed so beautifully perfect as a way to usher in the new season and give gratitude to God for the beautiful place and space and peace surrounding me. There was a feeling of joy as there always is in the gallery, and along with some very special visitors and conversations about future projects this time of relaxation and reflection filled me with renewed hope for the beautiful days to come.
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