A Guest of the World: Julie Varee

National Philanthropy Day is celebrated in November, and provides a perfect partner to Thanksgiving.

In his book of meditations, A Guest of the World, Jeffrey Lockwood writes:

"The most important thing that I've learned in traveling to more than twenty countries is the art of being a guest.
...
We are all visitors -- even when we are home. Our time in any relationship or place is ultimately limited. We are passing through; nobody stays forever. How might we act if we consider ourselves guests in the lives of friends and family? ...

The good guest ... simply allows the other person to be a good host -- to share his gifts, to play her music, to tell his stories, to show her places, and to serve his foods. ...

We might also think of ourselves as uninvited, but not unwelcome, guests of the planet. And I think the rules for being a good guest of the world are just the same: Ask little, accept what is offered, and give thanks."