Rescued by Gratitude-
Gratitude as a topic has almost become a trend. There are books, journals, classes, meditations research and more about gratitude and the practice of gratitude. I myself wrote a series on Gratitude for weeks on end. To the best of my knowledge, there hasn’t been much written on the miracle of gratitude. So today, here it is for consideration.
Brother David Steindahl Rast (long considered an expert on grateful living – now age 93) says that if the only prayer you ever say is “Thank You” it is enough.
Friends of mine have one child, a daughter, whom they adore. All her growing up years were a delight -she was always an engaging, bright, delightful child who blessed her parents lives in so many ways. At the point of high school, things began to change. Grades dropped, energy and vitality seemed lacking; soon it became apparent that she was drinking and using drugs to excess and addictive levels. Soon crime followed and sleepless nights. Her parents chose to maintain a hopeful and prayerful response as well as remaining grateful for their precious daughter. It got ugly along the way and then her parents decided to take a family trip to Ireland and take her along. On that trip, Erin was simply overcome with gratitude-she suddenly realized how much her parents had continued to love her throughout – how they believed in her true self – contrary to all evidence. As her gratitude grew in realization – she began to heal. The story is too long to tell here but she went to college, completed her studies and is now a teacher and counselor. She calls it her miracle of gratitude.
Closer to home, the unfolding weeks have included their own challenges for me. The veil of mourning became thick and the tears became constant. I tried everything to cheer up -tried telling myself it was the best outcome and other lame efforts. As I was attempting to just suck it up, I was invited to develop my innate gift of gratitude to a new level. I began to be grateful for everything that had happened in the past 5 months- I began to shift labels of good or bad to grateful. I sobbed through most of it but something started to change in those moments that I began to see things through the lens of gratitude and in addition, I began to remember specifically some things, other than these events, I am grateful for. The specific thing is important to the miracle…it isn’t “just flowers” but lilacs…it isn’t just joyful dogs, its terriers…and so on. As I was sobbing through my litany, something happened- I began to feel love and yes more grateful. The more things came to mind to be thankful for, the better I began to feel- until it was clear to me that the veil had lifted. Nothing had changed and everything was different.
Gratitude isn’t politeness, it isn’t the drill of “don’t forget to say thank you dear”…it isn’t something to say or do in response to something else. It is a deep quality and feeling that has divine properties and miracle producing effects. And yes, it is also a practice – especially to allow the depth to flow as opposed to tread water on the surface. I do believe in the practice whether its counting your blessings at night or keeping a journal daily – it does improve your health – from brain function to heart resiliency – and in my tradition it is the first step in prayer that catapults you to connection and recognizing the Divine in everything – yes the crappy stuff too.
So yes, I encourage you to experiment with it at a new level…next blog a little on what happens after you reach the point of the miracle.
Enjoy!
