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Gratefulness
I think if I had had an easy life, I would be insufferable, always demanding that everything went my way. But, as I have been blessed with a difficult life, I am stronger, more resilient and more respectful of the uniqueness of others.
I think the difficulties I confront help me know resilience because to dwell on the difficulties and losses is death, but to let go allows me to continue to live more deeply and with more openness …
Oddly, mortality. A friend put on our prayer line the sad situation of a young woman who lost her child in child birth, had a clot in her leg that went to her lung and stopped her breathing, and the doctors were considering pulling the plug. She asked for our prayers for a miracle. In our deep need, how much more tangible is the sacred …
Another friend also … with her frightening pulmonary fibrosis which will lead to her inability to breathe. How much more do I value her, love ...
Another friend also … with her frightening pulmonary fibrosis which will lead to her inability to breathe. How much more do I value her, love her, and pray for her with a sense of the sacred!
Some of the many things that make me feel most alive include … A walk in the woods. Engaged in photography. Learning. Praying. Writing in my journal. Cooking. Reading Scripture, BDP, or the works of spiritual masters. Watching the sun come up. Singing in my choir. Dancing. Being on the sea shore. Adoration. Holding a baby. Remembering those who love me who have passed away. The first new leaves on trees in the spring. …
If rather than seeing everything as opportunity, I saw it as gift, that would naturally ring true to me. To see everything as opportunity seemed at first opportunistic, seeking my own good. But then, perhaps the truth is somewhere in between — receiving all as gift and then acting towards good in relation to a greater whole …
Well, yes, I do! No help needed!
I have learned lately that in the chaos of my difficult life there is a central place of deep calm and deep peace and the sense of being held and loved by our Beloved Lord, and Our Gracious Lady …
Take the next breath …
Daily Question, October 19
What is life?
A miracle! Pure gift! Energy in a myriad forms. Breathtakingly beauty. Power. Vulnerability. Dynamic movement. Stillness. Interconnected. Relationship. Yet unique Individuality. Interdependence. Autonomy. Finite in form, and infinite in essence.
The first thing that popped into my head was this!
“The Johnny Appleseed Blessing
Oh, the Lord is good to me, And so I thank the Lord For giving me the things I need The sun, and the rain, and the apple seed.”
I suppose each of us could compose our own version! 🙂
None! I think my body is amazing and I am so grateful for it!
Well, I suppose if I live gratefully and with courage, I do not have to be inspired to affect social change, change will happen around me … That does not sound very pro-active, but perhaps each of us is called to effect change in different ways …
What is your view?
For a long time I have been holding on to the false god of the importance of finding the right man. In theory I know that if I search for the kingdom of God the rest will be added unto me. But emotionally I have clung to the idea of finding my husband and all would be well!
So now I pray for the gift of a holy marriage relationship, if God so wills, and carry on with my life, continuing to place God first.
How does it feel? Scary and liberating at the same time.
The beginning of a new day, such as has never been, nor will ever be again. Pure gift.
I learn that all is well in the universe, and that I am embraced in love.
I am a retired person, wh0 though poor, receive old age security and a guaranteed income supplement. I can also get food and bus tickets at Community Aid. I need to buy a monthly bus pass, so I get the bus tickets offered at community aid to give to those who need them more than I do! And I can give change to beggars on the street or in the metro system as I travel … On another level, I live in Montreal, a bilingual city, though of course, not everyone is. So I do some translation of docume...
I am a retired person, wh0 though poor, receive old age security and a guaranteed income supplement. I can also get food and bus tickets at Community Aid. I need to buy a monthly bus pass, so I get the bus tickets offered at community aid to give to those who need them more than I do! And I can give change to beggars on the street or in the metro system as I travel … On another level, I live in Montreal, a bilingual city, though of course, not everyone is. So I do some translation of documents in my church community for free. As I ponder this question, I am sure I may come up with some other things I might do!
For me, “the dark” is usually about how others are treating me. So if I try to love others as they are without judgment, understand them and feel compassion for them, I am facing my own inner darkness …
To learn to live from the deepest and truest part of my God-created self. I may not always be approved of, but I would be true to who I am called to be.
I have just a taste of what you speak of. When I was in my teens I nearly was in a horseback riding accident. The horse ran away with me (I was NOT and experience rider) down a field towards a barbed wire fence. (I learned afterwards this dear horse had the habit of stopping dead at the fence and flinging his riders into it!). I felt this amazing calm. Everything seemed in slow motion, everything was crystal clear. The horse stopped dead at the barbed wire fence. I stood up in the stirrups, l...
I have just a taste of what you speak of. When I was in my teens I nearly was in a horseback riding accident. The horse ran away with me (I was NOT and experience rider) down a field towards a barbed wire fence. (I learned afterwards this dear horse had the habit of stopping dead at the fence and flinging his riders into it!). I felt this amazing calm. Everything seemed in slow motion, everything was crystal clear. The horse stopped dead at the barbed wire fence. I stood up in the stirrups, lifted my left leg up and back over the horse and stepped down safely on his right side calm and unharmed.
May you heal! May you be well! May you find peace!
That is beautiful, Alicia! You are encouraging and inspiring me to apply this myself as I face some of the challenges in my life … Thank you for the gift of this post!
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