As this holiday season of Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, and the New Year spreads its arms, embracing us with warmth and joy, we can offer gratitude for the gifts we enjoy in life.

Many people only focus on the economic, health, or relationship hardships they face. When times are tough it is easy to forget all the blessings we receive from the Lord. This holiday season, let us not focus on a cup half empty, but on a cup half full. There is a cornucopia of blessings for which we can be grateful.

First, we are all blessed with the human birth. Out of the billions of life forms into which a soul can be born, only a relatively few receive the human form. When we see the struggles of other forms of life, we can be thankful we have been given a human existence.

Second, it is a great blessing to receive the gift of initiation. Millions of souls are crying in darkness wondering how to find God. We can be grateful that our sincere cries were heard, and we have been put in touch with the divine current of Light and Sound, so we can reunite with the Lord. Through meditation, we can enjoy the exhilarating journey through the spiritual realms within, from the astral, causal, and supracausal realms, until we reach our ultimate goal of oneness with God. There we are bathed in an eternal springtime of love, bliss, and joy. We experience that we have an existence beyond this physical realm and that our soul is eternal.

As this holiday season unfolds we can show our gratitude for the gift of initiation by meditating daily. If we have been given the key to God's kingdom, let us not keep it in the cupboard, but use it to unlock the wonders of the spiritual realms beyond and attain oneness with God. Let us also show our gratitude by spreading the godly love we receive to all we meet. There are many who are struggling in darkness, lost in ignorance of their divinity. We can spread God's love and carry the message of hope to them that there is God, we are soul, and we can meet God in this lifetime. Then, we can make the best use of the gifts we have received and serve as a beacon to others searching for divine love and joy.

I pray that we all have a holiday season enriched by love, grace, and eternal bliss.