Compassionate Action During Challenging Times
Stephanie Swann
November 3, 2024
Greetings Beloved Sangha. I am writing to you as we begin to celebrate the year-end holidays. As winter, and soon the new year, approaches, it is common practice to reflect on where we have been and what we are grateful for in our lives. To this end, I wanted to offer you this mealtime gratitude chant, or maybe it is better called a blessing. This blessing is dear to my heart and has been part of my life since attending a Zen retreat in the early 2000’s.
Appreciating food is such a beautiful way of expressing our gratitude for the bounty that Mother Nature bestows upon us. Before we sit for a meal, can we pause and reflect. Can we feel into the sentiment that this food IS a gift of the whole universe? Can we look toward the sky and have gratitude for the warmth of the sun? Can we imagine the moisture held in the clouds, waiting for just the right moment to send us rain that at one time was flowing in our creeks and rivers and washing against the shores of our oceans and in due time will continue its cycle? Can we touch the soil that held the vegetables and supported their growth? Can we thank all the pollinators such as the squash bee and hibiscus bee, the 18 kinds of bumble bees, the beetles, flower flies, wasps and butterflies? Can we imagine all the humans that worked to grow and harvest the foods that now fill our plate? Can we breathe compassion for the back breaking work and the long hours of tending the soil that many humans logged? What about all the people that carried our food on the journey and the people who designed and built the trucks and trains that escorted the collards, squash, beans, rice, and potatoes before they reached our mouths? I could go on and on, and in fact this mealtime blessing can be a practice that grows and grows. The more we recite this blessing with heartfelt gratitude, the more our curiosity expands. As I write this, I become curious about just how many pollinators there are in our southeastern United States. There are so many! And what about the role of birds in the spreading of seeds that become the fruits, vegetables, and nuts that we get to enjoy? It’s crazy amazing how it all works!
This mealtime blessing does not stop with inviting us to express our gratitude, it also asks us to turn our gaze inward and take inventory. Living in a way that is “worthy” is a way of asking, “Am I kind to the earth, the insects, the animals, and other humans?” Am I as kind to others as others have been to me? Am I in a circular relationship that is full of reciprocity, or do I sit at the end of a straight line that is all take and no give? Can I give as others give to me? This part of the blessing invites us to be in a loving relationship with all beings. The blessing next asks us to especially check out our habits of greed, of wanting, and craving. Do I take more than I need? Do I fear not having enough? Can I turn toward these habits with compassion and begin to open to another way of being? The blessing ends by calling us to nurture our own bodies, hearts, and minds. What are we choosing to eat? Do these foods nourish us in ways that lead to our well-being? Ultimately, can we begin to deeply understand that we are always in relationship and that we are never doing life alone. Interconnectivity is the truth of this existence. Let’s celebrate this reality by living our own lives of gratitude and generosity. May we all love and be loved.