Gaia: Living Metaphysics - Daily Living Aspects - Giving Thanks

Giving Thanks

http://axiom.gaia.com — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 07:49:56 GMT

hello in there thou
crazy cities of organs!

and hello in there thou
carpenter bee amoebas!

hello in there you
slippery hedgehog particles!

and hello out there thou
marvelous planetoid people!

the gate is open, open OPEN!
hello hello HELLO!

Re: Giving Thanks

http://yhd52754.gaia.com — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 21:23:46 GMT

Here are a few more of the snippets my grandmother, Bernice Dittmer, collected for her Let There Be Light book, the chapter called Praise Gratitude Joy.  These are some that I like -

Gratitude is a powerful energizer.
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The shortest, surest way to happiness is this:
     Make it a rule to thank and praise God for everything that happens to you. Whatever seeming calamity comes to you, if you thank and praise God for it, you turn it into a blessing.
     If you could work miracles, you could not do more for yourself than this thankful spirit; for it needs not a word spoken, and turns all it touches into happiness.
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You say grace before meals. All right.
But I say grace before the play and opera,
And grace before the concert and pantomine,
And grace before I open a book,
And grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing,
          boxing, walking, playing, dancing,
And grace before I dip a pen in ink.
                                                                    G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
                                                                    St Paul's Epistle
                                                                    Shreveport, LA &
                                                                    The Anglican Digest
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A bird atilt on a leafless spray
Bade me "Good Morning" before it was day.
Praised the light and hailed the sun
Hours before the night was done.

How sure of the sunrise he seemed to be !
How glad in his selfless praise of Thee !
I felt as I heard his tuneful prayer
It was one of the seraphs singing there.

And I took fresh heart of the hours ahead,
Knowing I too, am blessed and led
By infinite love, by wisdom's might,
Out of darkness, into the light.

                                Clipped & passed on by Maybelle Magruder
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Praise should be spoken as simply and naturally
as a flower emits its fragrance.

Henry David Thoreau
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So much to do, so much to see -
It's such a blessing just to be !

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Oh God, who created all people in your image, we thank you for the wonderful diversity of races and cultures in this world. Enrich our lives by the ever-widening circles of fellowship, and show us your presence in those who differ from us, until our knowledge of your love is made perfect in our love for all your children; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

                                       Episcopal Book of Common Prayer,
                                       Thanksgivings p. 840

(note - my grandmother was a life-long Episcopalian. I thought this was especially appropriate this year with the election of Barack Obama and also because I am so thankful for my circles of friendship here at Gaia - deb)
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My friend landed at an East Coast airport on his first trip to America. Waiting for his connection, he wandered the terminal. He soon noticed a strange object. It had a powerful effect on people. It was set into the wall and was made of shining steel. People approached it and then bowed reverently. And then by bowing and praying (they had to be praying) these people were blessed with a stream of clear water. My friend could only conclude that this must be a shrine.

Just what sort of shrine was this? Well, most of us would know it as a water fountain. My friend had never seen a water fountain before. In his arid African nation water was rare and so, as a Christian, he had always considered water a special blessing from God, well worth his deep gratitude.

Inevitably my friend learned that we Americans don't in fact see our water fountains as shrines. But maybe it is not such a bad idea. We have a number of places worthy of our devotion. What about our well stocked grocery stores? Houses warm and dry? Hospitals that are well staffed? These places are shrines of a sort too, for they speak of God's goodness to us. From now on I may not bow as I pass them, but I'll try to see them as my African friend might.

                                                           Deborah Rose (San Francisco, CA)
                                                           "The Shrine", Guideposts, July 1986
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Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting - a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.

                                                             Ralph Waldo Emerson
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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things
which he has not, but rejoices for that which he has.

Epictetus, 1st century AD
Greek philosopher
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There is an old Chinese proverb that says:
"When you drink the water, remember the spring."

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Oh God, if I could but impart
The thankfulness that swells my heart
For each and every little thing . . .
Like color bursts announcing spring,
The shaded spots the trees have brought,
The sunshine brightening every thought . . .
The squirrels playing on the lawn,
The eventide . . . the still, new dawn . . .
The fragrant smell of brown leaves burned,
The fresh black dirt where earth is turned -
So many things such as these
Have done so much my life to please
My whole life long would be of praise
To God, the keeper of my days.

                                Beverly Enderby Kimsey
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This is the true joy of life; the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one.

                                            George Bernard Shaw,
                                             preface to Man and Superman
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Whichever way the wind doth blow,
Some Heart is glad to have it so;
So blow it east or blow it west,
The wind that blows - that wind is best.
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Giving Thanks

http://yhd52754.gaia.com — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:48:32 GMT

I hope, if you have time, that you'll add to this thread about the ways that you give thanks today (and everyday). One of my primary ways is to stop at my sacred site and just thank the All That Is for the blessings of my life and so, it may be as simple as saying that -

"Thank you for the blessings of my life for it is indeed blessed."

Another way that I regularly say thanks involves our finances. We have had more than a few years of struggle (in the years that I have been with my husband in this business) and I've done many spiritual mind treatments (when the need was most extreme) and have even called upon the World Ministry of Prayer (800-421-9600 or www.wmop.org) for assistance when necessary.

This morning I wake thankful that my maternal grandmother bothered to collect and categorize all those little snippets of words, that she found to be inspirational in her life, and then self-published them to give away to her family and friends. She has 2 such books. The first is still my favorite - Let There Be Light by Bernice Dittmer. The second was a bit more focused on a favorite subject of hers - Angels. It is called Angel Notes.

I remember when I first began to be able to think metaphysically and I somehow ended up on the telephone in conversation with my grandmother. I was telling her these things which were hard to explain and I thought were just some crazy imagining of my own mind and to my utter surprise, she understood. She admitted that this was not a subject that one can discuss with most other people and so, I would assume now, that she was surprised to find herself having me to discuss it with, as well. I wish I could say that we had many such conversations but we did not. Still, it was comforting to know, that with all her study and her sincere religious beliefs, there was this understanding in her.

In Let There Be Light, she has a chapter called Praise Gratitude Joy. She begins this chapter with the 100th Psalm from the bible. I have found (as has Eckhart Tolle) that there is much to be appreciative of in the bible, if one brings to it the proper perspective -

Praise is the offering of grateful homage to God in words, songs, music or any creative act of reverent adoration.

The Book of Psalms, in the Old Testament, consists of Hebrew poetry, folk songs and ballads primarily concerned with God's dealings with man; the whole range of thought and emotion which the Hebrews perceived as the presence of God in their lives. Their songs are songs of the heart and one of the most joyous and beautiful is Psalm 100:

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord
          all ye lands.
Serve the Lord with gladness; come
          before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the Lord he is God, it
          is he that hath made us, and not
          we ourselves; we are his people,
          and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
          and into his courts with praise;
          be thankful unto him, and bless
          his name.
For the Lord is good; his mercy is
          everlasting; and his truth endureth
          to all generations.

Psalm 100 was a decided call for everyone to praise and experience true exultation, to give full expression of thankfulness. It still is. We, as the psalmist, surely have full knowledge that God is our source, a God of might and mercy always protecting and providing for HIs own. And we also are aware that His presence and blessings will always be with us.

Praise increases good wherever it is directed, and draws forth the best in every person in every state of affairs. Spontaneous praise from the heart quickens a warm, mighty power within which attracts greater good. Therefore we should seek every opportunity to praise God and our fellow beings and experience the joy of true thanksgiving.

B.D.