Weekly Soul - Week 33 - Gratitude
Today's meditation from Weekly Soul: Fifty-two Meditations on Meaningful, Joyful, and Peaceful Living by Dr. Frederic Craigie.
-33-
[Let’s]
remember the great truth that moments of surprise want to teach us; everything
is gratuitous, everything is a gift. The degree to which we are awake to this
truth is the measure of our gratefulness. And gratefulness is the measure of
our aliveness. Are we not dead to whatever we take for granted? Surely to be
numb is to be dead. For those who awaken to life through surprise, death lies
behind, not ahead. To live life open for surprise, in spite of all of the dying
which life implies, makes us even more alive.
David Steindl-Rast
Speaking at Columbia University Teachers’
College in New York a couple of years ago, I took some extra time to be a
tourist. Having known a sculptor who worked on the Cathedral of Saint John the
Divine, this was one of my priority stops.
Like other Gothic cathedrals around the
world, Saint John is immense and soaring and presents the visitor with a sense
of mystery. Unlike many Gothic cathedrals, it is the centerpiece of a thriving
modern religious community and has many elements of very current spiritual
life.
Outside one of the chapels in the main
sanctuary was a several-foot-long white board with a supply of dry-erase
markers and the prompting question, “What do you treasure?” Filling all of the
available space and overlapping with one another, passers-by had written a
colorful collection of responses;
• Family and the gift of music
• My eyes
• Laughter
• My cats (Camille)
• The community my church provides for me
• My babies, all 45 of them
• Freedom, brotherhood, family
• Ability to choose careers
• This wonderful life we are fortunate to
have
• Cookies
• The special plate given to me by my
grandmother
• Carbs
• Going for a walk
• My dog is a blessing from God
• International friends
• Laughter, happiness, anger, sadness
What a wonderful and diverse list, from
freedom and brotherhood to cookies (the author of “carbs,” I suspect, might
also treasure a wry sense of humor). And you can imagine the stories that go
along with these short entries. The 45 babies, the special plate, the dog—as hey
all are—a blessing from God.
The list speaks to gratefulness, and it
captures the feeling of aliveness that gratefulness engenders. Can you feel the
energy in some of these responses? Can you picture the people, young and old,
as they were writing them?
To be awake to the blessings of your life
brings you to life. A life absent of gratefulness—Steindl-Rast uses the words “numb”
and “dead”—misses out on the richness and fullness of our humanity.
For all of us, there are surely some gifts
of life for which we are constantly and eternally grateful. I wake up every
morning, make some coffee, and have a modest time of reflection or meditation
that always includes being thankful for the blessing that my wife has been in
my life for all these years.
Surprise can be a special element of
gratefulness, as well. Perhaps something calls to mind a blessing, like the
special plate, that you don’t much think about. Or perhaps you happen upon a
new experience, like finding a white-board description of treasures in a Gothic
cathedral, that makes you smile. To be open to surprise, to be awake to the
blessings of life even in the midst of challenges and suffering, “makes us even
more alive.”
Reflection
• What would you write on the white board?
What do you treasure?
• Invite into your attention some gift or
blessing in life that’s been there but you don’t much think about.
• Recall a time when you were blessed by
something that came to you as a surprise. An experience of wonder or awe. An
unexpected encounter with someone. A moment that touched your heart.
• In the coming week, pause to express
silent words of gratitude for blessings that are continuing parts of your life,
and give thanks for unexpected experiences that touch your heart.
Author
David Steindl-Rast (b. 1926) is a Benedictine
monk, writer, and social activist. He was born in Austria and drafted into the
army during the Nazi occupation, but he escaped and remained successfully in
hiding until the end of the war. He earned a doctorate degree in psychology in
Vienna and then emigrated to the United States in the early 1950s, joining a
monastic community in upstate New York. In the late 1960s, Brother David became
actively engaged in interfaith dialogue, studying with Zen masters and co-founding
the Center for Spiritual Studies, bringing together representatives of Jewish,
Buddhist, Hindu, Sufi and Christian traditions. He is especially renowned for
his promotion and celebration of the transformative role of gratefulness for
individuals and for the broader society. In 2000, Brother David co-founded A
Network for Grateful Living, which oversees the extraordinary website, www.gratefulness.org, providing resources and
orchestrating community connections for people worldwide. For years, he has
sought balance in his personal spiritual life, dividing his time between the
reflective life of a hermit and the busy life of speaking and teaching
internationally.
The quotation is from Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer (Paulist Press, 1984).
Book Description:
Keywords:
meditation; reflection; inspiration; miracles; aliveness; purpose; laughter; joy; presence; mindfulness; activism; acceptance; gratitude; forgiveness; creativity; civility; hope; affirmation; wholeness; well-being; mental health; personal growth; transformation; inner peace; personal reflection; joy; joyful living; inspirational quotes; inspirational commentary
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