What If It Was Your Last Holidays

Monk Mindset for Living Well

Monk Mindset 5

Choose Love: Love is Your Purpose

Reflection on the Monk Mindset & Quote

In the United States this week many of us will be gathering with friends and loved ones for the Thanksgiving holiday. 

When I was in the monastery years ago, a week or so before Thanksgiving my dad called me and told me the terrible news that he had terminal cancer and may only live a few months. 

Because we typically celebrated Thanksgiving in the monastery with the brethren, I’d not been home for Thanksgiving in 6 years. That year, I asked my superiors if I could celebrate my dad’s last Thanksgiving with him and they let me.

I’ll never forget the look of shock and joy on my dad’s face when I surprised him the day before Thanksgiving as I walked up to him and gave him a great big bear hug. 

My whole family gathered round and we just stood in the middle of the street holding on to each other embracing that moment as time – and life— seemed to slip like sand through our hands. 

Before that final Thanksgiving together, I’d celebrated so many holidays, special moments, non-special moments with my dad. And so many of them I was like a ghost just passing through only moderately present, drifting in and out. 

And now. What would I give for just another moment with him? 

We have such precious little time here on this earth. And God gave us the families and relationships we have right now, at this very Thanksgiving and holiday season for a reason. 

Our great privilege and opportunity is to seek, with God’s grace, to show up well for those moments. To try our best to be lovingly present to the relationships and people in front of us.

And sometimes this can be hard. But perhaps you remember this story – or you have a similar experience in your life. 

It can also be a great help to try to invite God to help us in bringing our best to these relationships. To invite him to live and breathe through us in some mysterious way.

Put It Into Practice This Week

Close your eyes and visualize being with friends or family for Thanksgiving or the next time you’ll be together whenever that is. 

Really put yourself in the scene like it's happening. 

Now imagine it’s your last Thanksgiving or gathering together. You’ll never have another.

What would you say or do?

Could you actually live at least some of this out?

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