This year, I spent part of the day at Miao Fa Chan Temple, where they had a vegetarian Thanksgiving lunch. No turkey, but plenty of hot pots, pumpkin pie, and metta. Everyone who came pitched in, bringing and/or cooking food, setting up the eating area, taking out the garbage, washing dishes, and even cleaning toilets. It was definitely a nice way to spend Thanksgiving. Even though I hardly knew anyone there, I felt as if I were among old friends.
After the meal, Ajahn Fa Thai made a huge pot of soup to take down to one of the local homeless shelters for all the people who have nowhere to go and nobody to spend the day with. That simple gesture really touched me for some reason, maybe because so few of us would think to do something like that, being so caught up in our own, cloistered lives (myself included). Sometimes it's the simplest acts of kindness that can inspire the deepest reverence.
This year, I spent part of the day at Miao Fa Chan Temple, where they had a vegetarian Thanksgiving lunch. No turkey, but plenty of hot pots, pumpkin pie, and metta. Everyone who came pitched in, bringing and/or cooking food, setting up the eating area, taking out the garbage, washing dishes, and even cleaning toilets. It was definitely a nice way to spend Thanksgiving. Even though I hardly knew anyone there, I felt as if I were among old friends.
After the meal, Ajahn Fa Thai made a huge pot of soup to take down to one of the local homeless shelters for all the people who have nowhere to go and nobody to spend the day with. That simple gesture really touched me for some reason, maybe because so few of us would think to do something like that, being so caught up in our own, cloistered lives (myself included). Sometimes it's the simplest acts of kindness that can inspire the deepest reverence.
