Gratitude
Women In Motion for November 2004
Martha Jane Howe
A cool breeze on a hot day, a warm home on a cold night, safety in a storm,water when we are thirsty. “This is GREAT!”we say as our faces soften and our voices become lyrical. Gratitude is our natural response when we notice one of the many gifts surrounding us.
It can be something you’ve asked for, or something that appears from nowhere. Kind words. An unexpected gift. A beautiful flower. A delicious meal. The mind stops for a moment, and there is gratitude. Thank you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
When you revieweach day what do you remember? How much got done? Who said what? The problems to be resolved? What you imagine will fill the coming days? It is important to remember and acknowledge what we have received. Too oftenmemories of the sweet momentsare drowned out by ourminds’ busy chattering.
Remembrance is a way of restoring balance. Why constantly think of what isn’t, hasn’t, wasn’t, or what could, should, might or probably be? Take a moment and think of five things, large or small, silly or profound, to be grateful for. Gratitude calms the mind. Who needs to go to Gilead? There is a balm in gratitude.
We are told that our thoughts create our reality, soif we get what we focus on, why not focus on those moments of joy and wellbeing? It is an interesting paradox that when we can accept things exactly as they are, then there is room for growth and change. Gratitude and contentment arethe “Miracle Gro” of life.
When did you last thank your body? Think of all that it has put up with, all that it has tolerated, all that it has done for you. When you look in the mirror do you acknowledge this amazing and complex machine? Are you grateful for your vehicle for this life? Can’t play the game here without one, so it is wise to make friends with the body that you have.
When you sit before the food that is about to enter and fuel your body, offer your gratitude to the earth that has produced it, and to all the people who have made it possible for you to have this food today. See the food filled with prana, thelife-force that fills all things. Consider this food as the gift that it is.
Thank you, earth, sun, air and water, that you give and continue to givein each moment. Bless and purify this food. May it be satisfying and bring me health. And may those who do not have food, find food and be satisfied.
What a lovely term “saying grace” is. Speaking our gratitude for the blessings in our life. That first Thanksgiving was a close call. Many friends and loved ones had died and would die. They were all strangers in a very strange land, and the “feast” was possible only because of the generosity of the Native Americans.
As we put out the decorations with the cute people in their black hats, silver buckles and white collars, do we remember that this clothing set them apart? That they faced the horrible voyage and frightening wild country only because it was better than being a persecuted minority? They wanted the freedom to practice a very unpopular religion.
It is said that you will eventually become what you resist. Is this country still a refuge for people with different religious beliefs and different definitions of God? Is there a danger of becoming whatwe first resisted?
In ancient Egypt the pharaoh felt responsible for the wellbeing of each person; Vizier to slave. Food was distributed through the temples to the general population, as needed. For how could the Gods bless any banquet or occasion if there was a single person in the country without food?
Could Thanksgiving be a day in which we made sure that everyone had enough? A day of gratitude for what we have and what we can share? Doeseveryone in the community have enough food? In a country with such abundance, how can we leave each other out in the cold? There is a Russian saying that if each person gives a thread, there will be enough for a shirt.