This is the season of endings and beginnings.

It is always good to give thanks! All that we have is a gift from life: our food, our relationships, our shelter from the cold. And when we give thanks, it is always good to be mindful of all people, and notice those who are suffering and do what we can to ease suffering and change its causes....

In a world ravaged by violence, by hatred, by conflicts that seem eternal and insoluble, sometimes the only thinbg we can do is be still for a moment to remind ourselves what is real: the sun that rose this morning, the dirt under our feet, the air whispering in and out of our lungs....

Come down off the ladder. Wash out that paintbrush. Shake the sand out of your shoes. Get up off your muddy knees, and give the garden a morning off. Fold up the newspaper. Turn off the coffeepot. Close up your calendar, already filled with dates, and times, and people, and places that claim you.