We give thanks to You!
Every soul and heart is lifted up to You, undisturbed name,
Honored with the name ‘God’, and praised with the name ‘Father’
For to everyone and everything (comes),
the fatherly kindness and affection and love,
and any teaching there may be that is sweet and plain,
Giving us mind, speech, (and) knowledge:
Mind, so that we may understand You,
Speech, so that we may expound You,
Knowledge, so that we may know You.We rejoice, having been illuminated by Your knowledge.
We rejoice because You have shown us Yourself.
We rejoice because while we were in (the) body, You have made us divine through Your knowledge.The thanksgiving of the man who attains to You is one thing:
That we know You. We have known You, intellectual light.
Life of life, we have known You.
Womb of every creature, we have known You.
Womb pregnant with the nature of the Father, we have known You.
– The Hermetic Prayer of Thanksgiving, Nag Hammadi Library
In Australia, as in many Commonwealth nations, we celebrate the day after Christmas Day as Boxing Day. Custom of uncertain origin in the British Middle Ages suggests that on this day we pack those belongings for which we no longer have use, and pass them onto others in need, in gratitude for all that we presently have.
In this way, on Sunday after the Nativity, one may be instilled with a sense of renewed appreciation for all that is brought forth in that moment of radical transformation, the moment where the light shines through the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it. With a lightened heart and mind, we can extend this gratitude through our participation in the human experience, bringing grace and revived agility to our contact with others and the world.