See our Privacy Policy
Δ
Gratefulness
I have been sitting here for some time watching the steady beat of the cursor and wondering what the intangible something is that makes a friend a friend in the first place. It is not that we agree about this or that because we often don’t. It has nothing to do with looks or mannerisms or ideas or notions he/she might have. Somewhere deep within there is a meeting of spirits that is understood and rarely put into words. It is for this that I am grateful and filled with awe and a sense o...
I have been sitting here for some time watching the steady beat of the cursor and wondering what the intangible something is that makes a friend a friend in the first place. It is not that we agree about this or that because we often don’t. It has nothing to do with looks or mannerisms or ideas or notions he/she might have. Somewhere deep within there is a meeting of spirits that is understood and rarely put into words. It is for this that I am grateful and filled with awe and a sense of wonder.
I don’t care what people think now. When I was 13, my 40 year old sister said to me, ‘Don’t worry about what people might think. You’ll be lucky if they think about you at all.’ I took that on board. I have more problems with my tactlessness.
I read somewhere a bit of advice from Brother David: ‘Do tasks in a leisurely way’ and he gave as an example the simple task of washing the dishes, drying them carefully and putting them away, sparkling clean and ready for use next time. He said doing tasks in this way gave him great joy. Both he and Lynn Twist have pointed out that being content with what we have been able to do by the end of the day and being grateful for being able to do it are ways to peace and joy. They’...
I read somewhere a bit of advice from Brother David: ‘Do tasks in a leisurely way’ and he gave as an example the simple task of washing the dishes, drying them carefully and putting them away, sparkling clean and ready for use next time. He said doing tasks in this way gave him great joy. Both he and Lynn Twist have pointed out that being content with what we have been able to do by the end of the day and being grateful for being able to do it are ways to peace and joy. They’re right. So making this a habit can make my old age my best time.
My parents and all the people who lived in the village of Waituhi. Because they lived a life of contentment in a timber camp with its substandard housing and lack of all the conveniences we take for granted today. All of us children had the best childhood ever and any of us still around still speak of it in those terms and say ,’How lucky we were to have such a childhood.’
St Paul, in Hebrews 9:15 answers this perfectly for me: ‘May the blood of Christ, who offered himself as the perfect sacrifice through the Holy Spirit, purify our inner self from dead actions so that we may serve the living God.’ Dead actions – all those thoughts about past wrongs, all those daydreams about how good it would be if…, all those worries about what might be. I’d be left with a clear mind and a joyful heart in the present.
My immediate (and unreflected) answer to to this question is ‘not very often’. I’ve just listened to a news bulletin in which Kim Jon-un and Trump were reported to be carrying on an ‘anything you can do I can do better’ type of conversation about their respective nuclear buttons. So come on; all of us mystics and contemplatives out there; let us work with these leaders through prayer that they might react wisely – it’s not a lighthearted song they&#…My immediate (and...
My immediate (and unreflected) answer to to this question is ‘not very often’. I’ve just listened to a news bulletin in which Kim Jon-un and Trump were reported to be carrying on an ‘anything you can do I can do better’ type of conversation about their respective nuclear buttons. So come on; all of us mystics and contemplatives out there; let us work with these leaders through prayer that they might react wisely – it’s not a lighthearted song they&#…My immediate (and unreflected) answer to to this question is ‘not very often’. I’ve just listened to a news bulletin in which Kim Jon-un and Trump were reported to be carrying on an ‘anything you can do I can do better’ type of conversation about their respective nuclear buttons. So come on; all of us mystics and contemplatives out there; let us work with these leaders through prayer that they might react wisely – it’s not a lighthearted song they’re singing We can do this, so let’s do it. And I’ll work on my own act at the same time.
My first answer is: I don’t know’. But I know there must be something. I am sitting here writing this and feeling cold even though where I am it is summertime. But today, after three weeks of record high temperatures, we have cold winds and cloudy skies, but the sun is making an effort and so must I. What I would like to do is be present with every person in the universe and share with them all the gifts of the spirit within us all so that there we are all one.
When I see a dandelion flowering merrily in the middle of the lawn and say ‘how wonderful, what a joy that golden flower is’ instead of saying, ‘bother I must dig that weed out’ I have looked at the dandelion with respect and I could go on to realise that the dandelion is a very beneficial plant in many ways. Its leaves could be infused to make a refreshing tea or added to a salad. Its root could make, when dried and roasted, a good coffee substitute. So by being grate...
When I see a dandelion flowering merrily in the middle of the lawn and say ‘how wonderful, what a joy that golden flower is’ instead of saying, ‘bother I must dig that weed out’ I have looked at the dandelion with respect and I could go on to realise that the dandelion is a very beneficial plant in many ways. Its leaves could be infused to make a refreshing tea or added to a salad. Its root could make, when dried and roasted, a good coffee substitute. So by being grateful I learn respect, and so to look again at something which at first irked me. And think what fun it is to blow on the amazing seed head and send the tiny parachutes off to settle somewhere and drop their seeds to grow, flower and produce more seed The gratefulness cycle goes on and on.
When I see a dandelion flowering merrily in the middle of the lawn and say ‘how wonderful, what a joy that golden flower is’ instead of saying, ‘bother I must dig that weed out’ I have looked at the dandelion with respect and I could go on to realise that the dandelion is a very beneficial plant in many ways. Its leaves could be infused to make a refreshing tea or added to a salad. Its root could make, when dried and roasted, a good coffee substitute. So by being grateful I learn respect, and so to look again at something which at first irked me. And think what fun it is to blow on the amazing seed head and send the tiny parachutes off to settle somewhere and drop its seed to grow, flower and produce more seed The gratefulness cycle goes on and on.
When I am feeling most joyful. I want to share the joy with everyone. And it irks me when I cannot do this but I give it a go anyway.
The joy of being alive. Just listen to a baby laugh. He/she has won life through all the months of growth and development and the perils of being born and now faces the challenge of becoming an autonomous human being. There is laughter and delight at every new discovery. I can return to my first days and that joyous sense of wonder because the opportunities for growth and discovery never end.
By being me. It’s all I’ve got.
Spot on Brother David as always. I dance, I play, I sing and all the while I cry for joy at the sheer beauty of it all.
I could relate to this poem and it speaks to me as few poems do. I felt ‘ah! that’s the way it is.’
The hardship people are suffering because of injustice, poor government policies that bring about poverty in countries that are wealthy and able to do better, people who are ground down because they have lost hope and have turned to various addictions as a way out.
Thanks Ed.
Terrific. I’ve never thought of doing that.
You’re right about that John. It’s a cure for a lot of things. I’ll raise my glass to you right now!
Thanks Sylvie. I find myself these days going back there in memory and living by the principles I learned then. That is a great challenge.
That’s what I’m trying to do. I’m not very connected with people or computers either.
This site is brought to you by A Network for Grateful Living, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. All donations are fully tax deductible in the U.S.A.
© 2000 - 2024, A Network for Grateful Living
Website by Briteweb
