I am grateful that today I am in a beautiful place among mountains, far away from all the noise. It's quiet here, and the mountains embrace me.
I am grateful for the warm smells of cooking. I am grateful for the food we'll get to consume. I am grateful for the traditions embodied in the meal, a thread running back through my entire life and into a time before I was. Today is a pause for prayer, that we are not discrete and disconnected from All That Is, but somehow something of us existed before we were born, and will ever endure.
I am grateful that today I'm with people I love. And I'm grateful for all the people I love, everywhere they are. May all of you--may all people everywhere--find peace and joy on this day.