gratitude Archives - We Get There By Walking

Gratitude

“If the only prayer we ever say in our lives is “Thank You” that will be enough.”
– Meister Eckhart

A card with that saying on sits on my desk.
I see it every day.
And, truthfully, every day I try to say Thank you.
Sometimes it is a pretty perfunctory prayer for food enough and for the relationships which sustain my life. Other times my prayer comes from a deeper place. The events of the day or chance phone call or email touch something within me and pulls a deeper sense of gratitude to the surface of my life.

If the only prayer we ever say is Thank You…
While I try to say Thank You each day and regularly remind others to do the same, today I learned something new about gratitude.
I learned that gratitude is hard.
It requires effort.
It means stopping long enough to pay attention.
It means seeing who and what is around me.
It means pushing beyond the narrow confines of my shrink wrapped life.
It means making space and letting go and opening up all of which is risky.

And, I used to think it was so easy…..

Gratitude

I say it a lot.
Maybe because I need to remember it myself.
That Thank you is our first and best prayer.
And, gratitude transforms our lives and the lives of those around us.
So, today…
Here are ten things for which I am grateful.

The doctors and medical staff who could repair my shoulder and keep me from being partially disabled.
For my dog who pushes her nose under my hand and her body onto my lap.
For this afternoon’s nap.
For all those who added their piece that we could provide a safe place to sleep for those in our community who needed it this winter.
For my children who are wonderful parents and partners and amazing young adults.
For the luxury of dreaming about tomorrow.
For the students who we will meet this week and consider for a college scholarship. Students who have overcome so much and yet have the courage to reach for a better tomorrow.
For my wife, who in more ways than I can name sustains my life.
For being here today.
For this next breath….right now.

What are the ten things you would put on your list today?

Snapshots

I am home again.
Back from a week living and working in Nicaragua with a group of high school students and adults from Bedford Presbyterian Church and Temple Shaaray Tefila. All in all, there were 57 of us divided among three communities, helping to build homes for six families.

I asked Don Santos how long he had been hoping for the home we were helping to build for he and his wife. “Four years.” he said. I replied, “I think you have been working and hoping for a house like this for most of your life.” He looked at me. Was quiet for a moment. Then, shook his head “yes.” Don Santos is a year younger than I am. The home he will be moving into this week will be the first home he has ever lived in with a real floor and not just packed dirt.

Here are several snapshots from the week.
Memories I will do my best to hold onto.

Rose Argentina, who is in her 60’s talking with us about her family and her life growing up in El Campuzano.
Juan Carlos, one of the community leaders, saying thank you to our group with tears in his eyes.
The Director of the local school telling us that because of the increase number of students one classroom has 60 students in it. 30 students don’t have desks so they have to stand all day.
The hard work of the high school students who were with me who mixed cement and carried blocks and played with children, and who never once complained.
The intensity and focus of a young woman who is in her first year at the university who had dinner with us one night and shared her dreams with us of becoming an accountant.
The skill and leadership of the young man who is now an International Volunteer Coordinator with Bridges to Community. A young man whom I have known for most of his life.
The gratitude of the families who will be moving into their new homes. Gratitude which both fills my heart and brings me to my knees.

There is, of course, more.
So much more.
Thank you to all who shared the week with me.

Saturday

Early Saturday morning I leave for Nicaragua.
With me will be a group of high school students and adults.
58 of us in all.
We will spend the week helping to build homes for six families.
As important as that is and it is life changing for those families, what is equally if not more important, is this. We will begin to look at and to see the world with new eyes.
We will see poverty.
We will experience resilience and hope.
We will stand face to face with gratitude.
And, somewhere in the midst of all that, our lives will change.
No longer will the world look solely like Westchester County, NY.

As a part of our reflection during the week will be this quote from Frederick Buechner.
“If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say, like artists, we must see not just their faces, but the life behind and within their faces.”

Even those who do not identify as Christian know the story Jesus told of The Good Samaritan. The stranger/the outsider who stopped to help the person in distress. Jesus told that story in response to the question “Who is my neighbor?” For sometime I have considered that question and how we answer it to be the most critical religious question of the day.
Who is your neighbor?
Those who live near you?
Those who look like you?
Those who speak the same language as you?
Those whose religious practices match yours?
None of those are true in the story Jesus told.

Saturday I leave for Nicaragua.
My hope for myself and for those who go with me is how we answer that question will change and our neighborhood will become a bit larger.

*The picture is of Rosa Flores, her husband Santos and three of their grandchildren. We will build a new home for them next week.

Good People

While the world around me feels crazy, today I am thankful for the really good people in my life.
Ordinary, everyday people.
And their simple acts of kindness.
Who give of their time to make a difference.
Who give of their resources to help another.
Stepping forward.
Doing what they can.
Because…
Well, it’s just the right thing to do.

Intellectually, I know for every act of hate or violence there are hundreds of acts of goodness and kindness that go unreported and too often unnoticed, but today I needed something more than an intellectual understanding. I needed to know it in a different way. I needed to see it face to face.
So, to those who said to me today…
It is the least I could do.
How can I help?
Will this make a difference?
Thank you.
Because of you I will take a deep breath and find a way to take the next step.

Thanksgiving/Giving Thanks

For some it is only a day.
Or, primarily a day.
Family.
Food.
Good dishes on the table.
More than enough to eat.
Thanksgiving.

But, today I do my best to remember that, more than a day
thanksgiving is a way of life.
It is an attitude.
A choice I make.
A decision in front of me each day.
Sometimes multiple times each day.
How will I approach the moment I have?
How will I respond to the person in front of me?
Need reminded?
Take a moment to watch this video.

Prayers for a wonderful, thoughtful, meaningful Thanksgiving.
And, may our lives follow where our prayers first lead.

Tags

Several things I believe: