Sunday, November 26, 2023
Wednesday, November 22, 2023
Living Gratitude . . .
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.
Melody Beattie
https://melodybeattie.com/
A Thanksgiving story . . .
Have you ever been robbed or cheated out of something that belongs to you? One day a secretary in a large office building took a coffee break. She stopped at a vending machine, selected a small bag of chocolate chip cookies, plopped them on a table and sat down to sip coffee while browsing the newspaper. When she reached out and took a cookie from the package, to her astonishment, a man sitting across the table also reached out and took one. She was a little upset by this, but didn't say anything. After all, it was only one cookie.
A few minutes later she took another one. Again, her table companion did the same. Now she was getting bent out of shape. Soon there was only one cookie left. He broke it, took half for himself and left the other half for her. Then he smiled, rose from the table and walked away.
Now she was really mad! How could he dare help himself to her cookies? She had no problem sharing, but he wasn't polite enough to ask and he didn't even say, "Thank you." His nerve and disrespect were insulting. That's what really hurt. She stood up, grabbed the newspaper and then saw her bag of cookies. It had been hidden out of sight by the newspaper. All this time, she had been helping herself to his small bag of cookies. She had robbed, cheated and disrespected him!
Source/author unknown
Monday, November 20, 2023
Friday, November 17, 2023
Thursday, November 16, 2023
A Blessing Prayer
Breathing out: Thank you
Prayer:
Generous God, you have poured so much into our blessing cups. You have offered us many graced moments filled with wonders of your goodness. You have been bountiful in sharing your presence of un-conditional love with us. You call us to bless others with our cup of life. Stir up within us a desire to offer our gifts to those who need them. We pray this in gratitude for your continued belief in us - for you are always ready to fill our cup with your generous love. In hope and trust we pray. Amen.
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Quiet Reflection:
• Reflect on some of the blessings in your life.
• Which one means the most to you?
• What helps you to be aware of the daily blessings in your life?
• How have you prayed with these blessings?
• Speak a prayer of thanksgiving in your heart for a blessing you have received this week.
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A Blessing for Our World
• May the God of strength be with us; and may we be God’s strength to those in our world whose hands and hearts we hold.
• May the God of gentleness be with us; and may we be God’s tenderness to warm all who are hurt, alone, depressed, or in need of kindness.
• May the God of mercy be with us; and may we bring mercy, courage, and hope to those in our world who suffer from fear, lack of trust, or who have been hurt in any way.
• May the God of compassion be with us; and may we be God’s compassion to those who are weary, or in need of a listening heart.
• May the God of patience be with us; may God’s patience be with us as we pray to stand with out-stretched arms, with an understanding heart - free of judgment -to receive those who are in need of our support.
• May the God of peace be with us; may God’s peace be with us as we pray for those in our world who are the least, the last, and the lost; and for those who are troubled, anxious, in doubt, and restless. May God’s peace be a warm mantle of love to still their hearts.
+Breathing in: Generous God
Breathing out: Thank you
Thanksgiving Prayer
We thank the great spiritual beings who have shared their wisdom.
We thank our ancestors who brought us to where we are now.
We are grateful for the opportunity to walk this planet,
to breathe the air,
to taste the food,
to experience sensations of a human body/mind,
to share in this wonder that is life.
We are grateful for the natural world that supports us,
for the community of humankind that enables us to do many wondrous things.
We are grateful that we are conscious,
that as intelligent beings we can reflect upon the many gifts we have been given. ~ Tom Barrett