Skip to main content

Gratitude Hurts



Why don't we live more gratefully?

We live in an ocean of joy - it engulfs us every day.  But so many of us are imagination hidden in a parched barren wasteland of complaint, of mote-driven hunger for what can never be?  What fuels this rock hard-heartedness.  We ignore voluptuous water drops and fiesta flowers.  Purposefully hurry-driven.

Gratitude hurts.  Kneeling next to a prayer-postured child we catch a glimpse of joy at the lisping, lilting voice sent heavenward.  But it hurts.  A captured moment, never capable of repetition.  There is some agony in this life truth.  This is only a moment.  So fast, so fleeting.  And there is also a sense of owing that worries us humans - the eternal balance sheet where we are always in someone else's debt.  We bury ourselves in busyness, projects, deadlines, clean kitchens and piles of paperwork even argument, war, slit-eyes full of hatred.  And we don't want to leave the little world we're sure we built ourselves to God's greater world of monumental creation.

I want suddenly to immerse myself in the gratitude.  Yes, the presences ness is overwhelming.  But this is the key to joyful living.  Living in the moment.  Each snowflake, each smile, each storm, each firefly is a tremendous gift.   And you will be worry-worn some nights with how little you have done.  How much He has.  But that balance has been paid too.  So be grateful.  Find joy in the journey.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do One Very Hard Thing Every Day

  A few weeks ago I woke up with some words in my head, words that I felt strongly that I needed to share with my children: "Do one very hard thing every day." I have been following this challenge myself for the last few days.  Some of my hard things may not be hard for other people but they are hard for me.  My daily challenges are aimed at helping me conquer my fear of heights, my dislike for throwing parties, and my fear of accident and injury.  Also my avoidance of talking to certain people or of doing certain things because I don't want to appear foolish.  Now I'm not suggesting that these things endanger life or limb, but I am suggesting that we stretch ourselves a little bit. Do we welcome growth?  Do we welcome opportunities for change?  Do we want our children to learn to do very hard things?  Are we proud of them when they overcome? It can be an exhilarating feeling to overcome challenges and to conquer new frontiers.  A few years a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Putting Things Into Perspective

  This past week I found myself signed up for too much.  My little red wagon of energy was trying to do an SUV worth of work.  I was exhausted.  Thursday night I had a rough night as multiple deadlines approached and I found myself frantically trying to get everything done.  I was suffering from sleep deprivation and headaches and I kept asking “How did I get myself into this mess.” Enter prayer.  Friday morning the family prayed for me at our family prayer, asking God that some things might be taken off my plate.  As if by magic, some commitments that I made started being taken off my plate - a playdate was cancelled, a son magically cleaned the house while we were on a date, my husband made dinner because the Internet went out and he was working from home, he also did the grocery shopping because he had extra time when taking a son to his cross country meet.  This gave me energy to work on some projects that I should not have signed up for in th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Looking for Happiness in all the Wrong Places? Try Hesed Instead.

Do you feel like you are looking for happiness in all the wrong places? God has given us a timeless recipe for happiness in a three-letter Hebrew word - Hesed. Science tells us that what people most want and need for happiness is relationships.  We want relationships where we can trust others and can depend on them.  We want warmth, forgiveness and communication.  We want someone who will support us and who is interested in helping us to become the best that we can become.  This is at a time when unkindness is epidemic and commitment is viewed as an inconvenience.   How can we find the security, the warmth and the closeness that our soul needs?  We can find it in hesed . Hesed is the term that describes a covenant relationship in which both parties are bound to be loyal and faithful to each other.  In this type of relationship we yoke our imperfect selves with God, promising to serve and to help him in certain ways and in return he promises us hi...
Post a Comment
Read more