Good Morning!
Or, at least it is good morning as I write this. It may not be morning where you are. There also may not be as much fear and uncertainty surrounding you as there is for many of us in the US. I wanted to encourage you that love, gratitude, thankfulness, and peace are much more powerful than fear, uncertainty, and hate.
There is tendency amongst us humans, to categorize and sort. We find comfort in the familiar and are disturbed by the different. Not just in a political, cultural, or religious sense, although that is true – but on a deeply individual level. We do not like change. We do not like the unknown. We want safety. We want security.
But, there is no life without change and growth. And if we hold on to the past or unhealthy patterns of behavior, it is one of the most dangerous things that we can do. Partly, because it is so subtle.
Ironically, being grateful and thankful are powerful agents of change and progress towards goals and goodness. I have a couple of theories on why this might be, but I have observed it in my own life, as well as the lives of others, that the more I am grateful for what I have, the more I am thankful for the people in my life, the more love that I have for myself and others, the more free I am to make positive changes in my life and in my world.
The Bible talks about sowing and reaping in many contexts. And, I believe, that this is one of those times when this very much applies. The verse that comes to mind in particular is in Hosea where it says that they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind (8:7). It speaks of the inherent nature of exponential increase that occurs when we sow. We do not just reap what we’ve sown, but we reap more than what we’ve sown.
The Bible also says that if you seek, you will find (Matthew 7:7). I’ve always heard this in reference to the Lord. If you seek him, you will find him. And that is certainly true, but I propose that the truth in that verse has much greater realms of application. If we look for good things, we find them. If we look for bad things, we find them as well.
Gratitude is a simple, yet powerful way to combine both of these truths for our benefit. If I focus on the good things that I have, then I am sowing gratitude and I am also seeking after the good. I am choosing to be grateful. I am choosing to be thankful. I am choosing to release love and peace where ever I go. (I’ve even started a new art project with that in mind that you can find more about here.)
What about you? What are you grateful for? What are you thankful for? How can you express that today? Will you join with me in expressing that in being kind?