Weekly Soul: Week 34 - Blessings
Today's meditation from Weekly Soul: Fifty-two Meditations on Meaningful, Joyful, and Peaceful Living by Dr. Frederic Craigie.
-34-
Can
you see the holiness in those things you take for granted--a paved road or a
washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation,
you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a
feeling that nurtures the soul.
Harold Kushner
Blessings abound. Some tap us on the
shoulder or stare us in the face. Some, we take for granted.
I remember going with my dad when he
bought his first brand-new car, a 1961 Dodge Lancer. He asked the salesman
whether cars now all came with heaters. This was a serious question, and the
man did not laugh. The answer was “yes” although cars did not come with radios
and our AM radio receiver was an optional extra.
Now, we roll down the road in a cabin with
all the comforts of home. Concert quality sound. Precise temperature control,
whether it is raining, sleeting, or baking outside (adjustable for the tastes
of driver and passenger separately, no less). Living in Maine for all these
years, I confess that there have been times in the dead of winter when we’ll
get into the car and drive to no particular destination just to crank up the
heat to 80 and have a respite from the cold.
And there’s more, all around us. One-inch
undersea fiber optic cables carry data around the world with enough capacity
for tens of millions of high-definition videos streaming simultaneously. Grocery
shelves, at least in America, are never empty. Spring comes, and leaves unfold.
In spite of notable exceptions (the media pays particular attention to this),
most people are incredibly kind and generous.
Calling to our awareness the blessings
that we take for granted is a spiritual practice. Kushner uses the word,
“holiness.” You will recall that our modern words holy, health, heal,
and whole all derive from the Old English words, hal/halig. There
is considerable modern research demonstrating that gratefulness is associated
with multiple aspects of well-being, including physical health, mental health,
self-esteem and self-care, resilience, empathy, and sleep. But doesn’t the
awareness of blessings enliven us to the sacredness of life, as well? When you
pause to recognize the gifts of life that you usually take for granted, doesn’t
that help you to transcend the circumstances of the moment and glimpse a larger
view of the exquisite and holy tapestry of life?
Reflection
- Call to your attention five
small blessings that you don’t much think about, that you take for
granted. Sit with your awareness of these blessings for a few minutes.
- Explore the idea of everyday
blessings with the following exercise. Write down today’s date on a piece
of paper. In your mind’s eye, project yourself forward to very nearly the
end of your life. You are largely incapacitated; you are unable to do any
of the things in your life that have brought you joy. Perhaps you are in
discomfort. A kindly Presence appears and offers to return you, free of
charge and with no strings attached, to your life as of today. You go for
it, and you find yourself transformed back to being the person you are
today. You can again move as you wish. You can do things that had been
inaccessible in your state of near-death. Look around. In what ways do you
experience yourself being blessed with today’s life, in this context? Next
to today’s date, write down some parts of your life today for which you
are grateful.
- In the week to come, open your
awareness and your heart to some blessing each day which you might
otherwise have taken for granted.
Author
Harold Kushner (b. 1935) is an American
rabbi and internationally-prominent writer. He is best known for his books that
explore suffering, forgiveness, and meaning-making, particularly the landmark When
Bad Things Happen to Good People (Random House, 1981) and When All
You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough (Summit, 1986). His insights about the
human condition have been formed by on-the-ground work as a congregational
rabbi in the Boston area for over 30 years. Kushner is also no stranger to
suffering himself, having lost his son Aaron to a rare disease in his early
teens (prompting the question, “Where is God?” in his first book). Now
approaching his mid-eighties, he is the recipient of six honorary doctorate
degrees and a collection of awards touching on religious life and service. The
quotation comes from Kushner’s essay, “God’s Fingerprints on the Soul,” from a
remarkable collection of spiritually-inspired reflections in Handbook for
the Soul, edited by Richard Carlson and Benjamin Shield (Little, Brown and
Company, 1995).
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
For more posts by and about Fred and his book, click HERE.
CONTACT editor@msipress.com FOR A REVIEW COPY
To purchase copies of any MSI Press book at 25% discount,
use code FF25 at MSI Press webstore.
Want to read an MSI Press book and not have to pay for it?
(1) Ask your local library to purchase and shelve it.
(2) Ask us for a review copy; we love to have our books reviewed.
VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL OUR AUTHORS AND TITLES.
Sign up for the MSI Press LLC monthly newsletter: get inside information before others see it and access to additional book content(recent releases, sales/discounts, awards, reviews, Amazon top 100 list, links to precerpts/excerpts, author advice, and more)Check out recent issues.
We help writers become award-winning published authors. One writer at a time. We are a family, not a factory. Do you have a future with us? Find out at www.msipress.com.
Turned away by other publishers because you are a first-time author and/or do not have a strong platform yet? If you have a strong manuscript, San Juan Books, our hybrid publishing division, may be able to help. Ask us. Check out more information at www.msipress.com.
Planning on self-publishing and don't know where to start? Our author au pair services will mentor you through the process. See what we can do for your at www.msipress.com.
Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book in exchange for reviewing a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com.
Want an author-signed copy of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.Julia Aziz, signing her book, Lessons of Labor, at an event at Book People in Austin, Texas.
Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their contact information on our Authors' Pages.Steven Greenebaum, author of award-winning books, An Afternoon's Discussion and One Family: Indivisible, talking to a reader at Barnes & Noble in Gilroy, California.MSI Press is ranked among the top publishers in California.
Check out our rankings -- and more -- HERE.
Comments
Post a Comment