Grace

I began the week with a thought in mind, one of those late night stream of consciousness things that seem to come from nowhere and give my dear husband pause and cause to wonder, “what brought this on?” The thought of gratitude and of being aware of the many things one has to be grateful for. A life fully lived, despite the dimming twilight of once youthful exuberance and abilities. The glorious gift of spending your days and nights with the one you love. The appreciation of life’s simple pleasures, a warm bed, a sturdy home, a table lovingly spread with the day’s meal and the presence of our dear ones. Recalling memories of tending fragrant summer gardens and of warm fireside wintry evenings. Gratitude is an attitude and a state of grace. That must be why they come from the same Latin root word “gratus”.

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart

We teach our children to say “thank you” before they have even mastered the most basic tenets of human speech. We offer thanks by saying grace before meals. In this way, we count our blessings, and praise God. In fact, when we are grateful we could say we reside in the very heart of God. One cannot be both simultaneously grateful and despondent. You might even say that gratitude is a cure for depression.

Some further perspectives on gratitude are here.





Light a Candle here.








In keeping with this notion of gratitude, I achieved a milestone this week that not many do in today’s work world of outsourcing, layoffs and resume shopping. I had my ten-year anniversary at my place of employment. In a show of appreciation of my longevity, my employers treated my husband and I to a lovely lunch at the local bistro along with a card of thanks and a very generous monetary gratuity (there’s that root word again). With all of the bad things one might say about having to work for a living, I really do have it pretty good.

In closing, I would like to express my gratitude to one whom I have never met but has included me in her prayers. Thank you Julie D.

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. ~ Marcel Proust