Fall is the

Fall is the season of thank you

By Joan Brown, osf

Special to the Independent

“If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.”

Meister Eckhart

In this quote mystic, priest and Dominican theologian Meister Eckhart expresses a profound and mysterious truth. Nothing is ours and yet every breath, heartbeat, glass of water or morsel of food from each sunrise are given to each of us. But how can one say thank you?

Fall is the season of "Thank you." We are entering the week of "Thank you." We may glibly say these sacred words each day ... if we remember, but, this time of year calls us to deeper reflection and renewal. Everywhere we turn, in each moment is a gift of Love. The Qur'an 2:115 is eloquent when it states "Everywhere you turn there is the face of God." How amazing that God, the face of Love peers through each tree and in each child and touches our tongue in a drink of water. This leads me to wonder if mere words of thanks are enough. True thank you's, I believe require reciprocity and invite us to multiply a gesture of love. Although we may not feel that what ever gesture we offer is adequate, we must act in reciprocity, it is the way of nature and God's creation.

In fall the trees give leaves to the earth. The earth welcomes the leaves, as do grubs and earthworms who break down the fallen leaves into soil to nurture the tree to bud in spring and give us leaves, shade and even fruit again. The cycle is continual. Giving, thanking, receiving and giving back.

As humans we have gotten into a bad habit of merely taking. As the UN Climate meeting in Egypt ends this weekend we are reminded that the climate crisis we face is because we have dishonored the cycle of our Sister, Mother Earth, Our Home.

We take so much fossil fuel from Earth that we are choking ourselves. We take so many trees from rainforests that we are destroying our ability to breathe. We have not given back to Earth and are now in a crisis that those who have contributed least to these problems suffer most.

As economically poor and climate vulnerable nations call for financial recompense for loss and damage, the Global North is mostly ignoring the Global South. "Everywhere you turn there is the face of God." Last week I experienced a joyful day where thanks and reciprocity burst forth in the ordinary at the Assisted Living Home of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Gallup. The good folks at Covenant Pathways near Ramah offered a composting workshop that began with a prayerful reflection from Laudato Si: On Care of Our Common Home by Pope Francis. After learning about microbes, worms, leaves and organic matter, the sisters and staff leaned into pitchforks and shovels to build compost piles that will become soil to grow more food, for which they and their residents will eat with gratitude.

The face of God was present in the work, joy, gratitude and reciprocity under Father Sky with Brother Sun. These are lessons to teach our children and grandchildren.

This week I was in the Permian Basin in South East New Mexico listening to health concerns of people living within the oil and gas fields. My thank you for their hospitality, stories and welcoming me to their region is the promise to make public comments in the Environmental Protection Agencies public comment period for rules to combat methane pollution in the next several months.

Everyone is invited to offer comments and information is available on how to do this from Interfaith Power and Light. This is a fitting thank you for the gift of breath that God give us.

In his address to the UN climate meeting, former Vice-President Al Gore spoke about the need to act now for climate justice and said "We have a choice between blessings and curse." Blessings are the thank you actions we not only speak but do in gratitude for gifts given that as mature people we must pass along to future generations. We like the trees, and every living creature are part of the cycle of reciprocity without which we cannot expect life to continue in such beauty. "Everywhere you turn, there is the face of God." Joan Brown, osf, is a Franciscan Sister and Executive Director of New Mexico and El Paso Interfaith Power and Life which works with people of faith and conscience. She may be contacted at info@nm-ipl.org.

Courtesy photo

Little Sisters of the Poor are seen doing compost at their assisted living place in Gallup in this undated courtesy photo.

Joan Brown