What is this colour?
Is it orange?
Is it copper?
Is it golden?
It is warmth.
It cascades across my room,
my body is held,
it draws in my heart.
The infusion of light
meets the divine spark at my core.
I pause,
I breathe differently,
I am aware of depth and connection.
Is this what it is to know the closeness of God?
I bask in this orange, copper, golden hues, I bask in warmth.
Gratitude comes in a variety of guises.
A setting harvest sun or early snow are invitations.
A needed hug or a surprise visit fill the quota.
A meal shared or a meal given unfold this grace.
If we leave gratitude and thankful for one weekend in a year
we can miss the very heart of what our world needs.
If we leave gratitude and thankfulness only for nice cards
we can miss the lasting impact of words shared in a variety of ways.
If we only express gratitude and thankfulness to those we know
we can miss the opportunity to bring healing to the world.
While gratitude is fresh in our mind and heart, we must ask ourselves:
“How can I extend this to our world today, tomorrow and beyond?”
Can a weekend spent enjoying good food, and good people motivate us
to make gratitude a norm which is not only once a year or preprinted words?”
Gratitude puts us in tune with God for,
as Kimberly M. King reminds us,
“It is all praise, all thanksgiving,
for the gift, the blessing,
the knowing,
of being alive,
with you and through you
and to you and for you
and this great wild world.
Amen.”
Being alive is indeed an act of gratitude.
Which means we will encounter God
in living, in learning, in letting go,
in seeing with new eyes, in forgiveness
and in hope,
for we “live and move and have our being” in God (Acts17.28).
Is this not a call to gratitude and thankfulness in all seasons?
