WHERE THERE IS LOVE; THERE IS GOD

Today I am going to THE-PLACE-WHERE-I-AM-THANKFUL-FOR-EVERYTHING.

How can someone who owns nothing be thankful for anything? Is it ownership itself that we are thankful for? What does it mean to be an owner, and to be thankful for being one. If we own more and more, do we have a reason to be more and more thankful? If we own less, do we have a reason to be angry and not thankful? If we have an abundance of material things we can use, but we do not actually "own" them, is this also a reason to grieve that we do not own them, even though we can use them as if they are ours and as if we own them?

To be thankful for a yellow wall, whether or not we own it. We see it, we can feel it. It is in our presence. We cannot own G-d. G-d is not something that we own and who others do not own. We cannot BUY G-d. Therefore, we are taught to extend our spirituality to appreciate and be thankful for G-d who we cannot own.

G-d owns us.

We need to be thankful for G-d owning us and protecting us as if we are part of his flock of sheep. What we own is not the issue. The issue is that G-d owns us and therefore we are secure, loved, and appreciated, no matter what it is that we do or do not own.

G-d will not love us more if we own the latest fashion or buy the most expensive car. His love transcends all the material. He loves us unconditionally, even loving us if we own nothing, actually loving us more if we own nothing, because we become His beloved poor, fatherless, motherless, childless, stranger, orphan, widow--whom He loves the most out of everyone.

We are always under His umbrella of love and kindness, no matter if we own an umbrella or not. His protection comes as a love for what is inside of us, not for what we own or do not own. He loves our soul. our heart, our minds, our bodies, our actions and good deeds, He loves our thankfulness to Him for keeping us alive, as we chant the Sheheckianu to thank Him for our lives.

We can be glad for what we own, and be thankful for what we own, but our insides, our internal workings, our attitudes, and our abilities to perform mitzvoth, this is what we need to be truly thankful for. We need to thank G-d for increasing our good intentions and decreasing our evil intentions.

We need to be thankful to G-d every time we are able to achieve peace. His love for us grows greater than the greatest when we have achieved peace where there could have been war.

We need to thank G-d for our ability to love and to find love and to make love where there was no love before. It is up to us how much love we receive and it is all about how much love we give that determines how much we are loved back.

Where there is love, there is G-d.