Gazing in the Mirror

November 22 - Thankfulness

Praise should be spoken as
simply and naturally as a
flower emits its fragrance.
~ Henry David Thoreau

I will give thanks to my
Inner Life for all Its
Marvelous Wonders, and
for all Its Wonderful
Works. I will sing and be
glad, for I know that I
am hidden with Truth in
a Perfect Life.
~ Ernest Holmes

Before she died my maternal grandmother, Bernice Dittmer, left her family two books into which she categorized some of her favorite bits of wisdom accumulated over a lifetime. I am thankful to have these reminders of her with me always accessible and within easy reach. In "Let There Be Light" she begins the chapter on "Praise – Gratitude – Joy" with the following thoughts.

"... a decided call for everyone ... to give full expression of thankfulness. ... We ... surely have full knowledge that God is our source, a God of might and mercy always protecting and providing for His own. And we also are aware that His presence and blessings will always be with us."

"Praise increases good wherever it is directed, and draws forth the best in every person in every state of affairs. Spontaneous praise from the heart quickens a warm, mighty power within which attracts greater good. Therefore we should seek every opportunity to praise God and our fellow beings and experience the joy of true thanksgiving."

It is an important point that we do not do this to acquire blessings and abundant good in our lives even though these things follow in the stead of a gratitude practice. It is noted however that attention amplifies whatever it is fixated upon. Therefore fixing the attention on "noticing" those things that one can be genuinely grateful for tends to amplify the general circumstances being acknowledged. My maternal grandmother was perhaps the first member of our family with a gratitude practice and a law of attraction perspective and those did indeed serve her well with financial abundance as well as bringing into her life opportunities to serve the greater good of other people not as fortunately blessed.

I like the perspective on "grace" shared by GK Chesterton (who lived in the late 1800s and early 1900s) which my grandmother shares in her book – "You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the play and opera, and grace before the concert and pantomine, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing, and grace before I dip a pen in ink", making abundantly clear that nothing is too small to be thankful for.

I love "blessings". For the last year I have offered them to friends and family on their birthdays and I offer them to strangers instead of the ubiquitous "Have a Nice Day!" as though arrogantly demanding that another person meet my expectations for them. As a child of the desert myself in closing I share this "The Arizona Desert Blessing" from my grandmother's book written by the Rt Rev Arthur B Kinsolving II who was an Episcopalian bishop in Arizona – "May the desert dawn awaken you with breathless hope / And the vastness make you walk humbly with your God. / May the companionship of Christ go with your farthest journey / And his compassion soothe the fierest noonday glare. / May His Holy Spirit brook with you in the still beauty of our sunsets. / And tender stars give you the assurance of God's own friendliness and peace. / Amen."

~ perspective

I am ever thankful to have
the blessing of incarnating
solidly in the material world.
I am grateful that my Life's
circumstances have been
relatively easy and I
acknowledge an awareness
that it is not so for every
human being on the planet –
I reaffirm my commitment
to doing whatever it is that
I can do to bring about
beneficial basic life
improvements to all people.
I bless the food I eat fully
for all those that have had
some part to play in its
arrival at my table.
I am grateful that peacefulness
and joy are ever present along
with love everywhere I am.
Gratitude and appreciation are
a constant practice of my daily
life and often for the smallest things.

#appreciation #blessings #finance #generosity #grace #heart #power #praise #service #wisdom