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Gratefulness
Today I am grateful to be alive, to feel, see and know the grace and power of something we call Spirit. That alone is joy and gift enough!
I have learned that I am a year older than I was last year, and feel even more grateful for the gift of life and for the love of my family that surrounds me day in and day out.
I have to say that it has often been our dog, Gracie, who has helped to pick my spirit back up when things feel dark. I express my gratitude by taking her for walks and giving her treats…often in fact, and daily!
That in 2020, and with three days remaining, I have avoided contracting Covid-19.
By being kind to everyone I meet today. It’s contagious.
Listening to others creates the possibility of communication, learning, insight and friendship.
That the Spirit of Christ resides within me and remains so, quietly, throughout the year.
People have told me to my face that kindness, commitment to my faith and values, and readiness to offer help where I can, are attributes I possess. I am grateful for that because there are a great many other things that I do poorly. Therefore, I’ve learned over the years to go with my strengths.
In two words, it doesn’t.
Right now, it’s pitch-black outside. At 24 degrees, it’s cold, and the snow crunches underfoot. Thank goodness, none of this reminds me of the weather in my heart!
Since being mortal means I am on borrowed time here, not being grateful for the air that I breathe and the love that I have the privilege of feeling and sharing every day, would be a loss of colossal proportions.
The joy in this moment is being here!
Fortunately, I have a few such places. One is inside our Quaker meetinghouse in Westport, MA, first built in 1713. There’s just something soothing about sitting and watching the day’s first light come streaming through the large old pane glass windows and bouncing off the wide horsehair-plastered walls.
Another “place” is simply sitting in one of our rowing club’s 28-foot whaleboats. As my team’s coxswain, I set up the boat before dawn and enjoy sitting, waiting for the oth...
Another “place” is simply sitting in one of our rowing club’s 28-foot whaleboats. As my team’s coxswain, I set up the boat before dawn and enjoy sitting, waiting for the other five rowers to arrive, listening to the lines creaking and tugging, and as seagulls hover and swoop overhead.
My faith. Meaning, my faith in humankind and my faith in the Holy Spirit.
When Gracie lost her eyesight five years ago I think we were still in shock mode and we purchased every conceivable piece of equipment to help dogs without eyesight and to make a long story short, within three months she stopped needing and using all of them!
The snow does indeed obscure or erase Gracies ability to use sent to navigate her way around our property. What I need to remember to do after a snowfall of more than three or 4 inches is to go outside with her and basically walk ...
The snow does indeed obscure or erase Gracies ability to use sent to navigate her way around our property. What I need to remember to do after a snowfall of more than three or 4 inches is to go outside with her and basically walk the perimeter myself with her walking off leash beside me and then she‘s all set.
Before Covid, when our entire family of 22 would be over in the backyard, Gracie could always find me no matter how quickly I was moving about, but this may say more about me being odiferous than her being an expert tracker using her nose!
Gracie is a mixed breed, with what the vet thinks is some Border Collie and Newfoundland in her too. She’s mid size, with hair that covers her paws and extends past her toe nails. She’s hairy! She lost her eyesight five years ago to a tick-born disease that has an ocular component to it. But she has full range of the house and grounds on her own, and sometimes it’s easy to forget she is actually blind now. Gracie follows me everywhere around the house, loves car rides, naps ...
Gracie is a mixed breed, with what the vet thinks is some Border Collie and Newfoundland in her too. She’s mid size, with hair that covers her paws and extends past her toe nails. She’s hairy! She lost her eyesight five years ago to a tick-born disease that has an ocular component to it. But she has full range of the house and grounds on her own, and sometimes it’s easy to forget she is actually blind now. Gracie follows me everywhere around the house, loves car rides, naps when I nap, and taking walks on leash in conservation areas, etc.
Thank you, Antoinette! Happy New Year, too! Let’s hope and pray it’s a better year then this year!
You as well….Merry Christmas!
Love your story, Howie!
And I started my career as a farmer. I thought that would be my life’s work. Then I took over a failing 4-H Club and realized I had a talent with working with kids. I started doing less farming and more social work, and then went back to college to retool, became a social worker, which led me to working with young people within my faith community, which lead me to become a minister. I’m 70, hope to have some good years ahead, and I’m keeping my...
And I started my career as a farmer. I thought that would be my life’s work. Then I took over a failing 4-H Club and realized I had a talent with working with kids. I started doing less farming and more social work, and then went back to college to retool, became a social worker, which led me to working with young people within my faith community, which lead me to become a minister. I’m 70, hope to have some good years ahead, and I’m keeping my seatbelt fastened for the ride wherever it takes me!
Beautifully stated, Dusty Su! Thank you.
Such a beautiful reflection, Pollyanna. Thank you. As a Quaker, we use the word “light,” as, “In the Light,” meaning as of the Spirit. For us, God, Spirit, Light, Light of Christ, mean much the same thing.
I love how you were able to use the term “festival of light,” and that it was acceptable across religious practices. My own sense of light is that much is going on in it and through it, perhaps more than we could understand. >> Have a peace...
I love how you were able to use the term “festival of light,” and that it was acceptable across religious practices. My own sense of light is that much is going on in it and through it, perhaps more than we could understand. >> Have a peace filled day, my friend.
Hey Antoinette……”Hidden Brain,’ is one incredible show for sure!
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