Yes, life is a complicated mass/mess of choices. Yet I am grateful for it all. Here is my prayer last Sunday at Bedford United in NS.
Everyone's life is an emotional rollercoaster. We are all confronted with problems that are personal and global. This week we all felt stress about the havoc Hurricane Milton created in Florida. We are all worried about the violence in the middle east, and the ramifications for us if it escalates. We all have opinions about the upcoming elections in HRM and in the United States. There always seems to be something to be concerned about.
But then we look outside and we see nature showing off its brilliance, with an intensity of colour we rarely see. And many of us saw the Northern Lights and a double rainbow this week. Twenty-two women from our church are still smiling from the joy-filled time we had at our Tatamagouche retreat. Some of us have friends and family we are sharing food and time with this Thanksgiving weekend. Most of us have an abundance of blessings to be grateful for.
Gratitude helps us to internalise the intensity of our senses, our thoughts, and the overwhelming beauty of the Earth and all life on it. It is through being grateful that our hearts open to the wonder and pleasure of being alive. Despite our difficulties, we can feel fabulous if we choose to focus on what is going well instead of what is problematic. Daily we can give thanks to God for all that is good and life affirming.
Kimberly King is a Sister of Charity at the Barat Spirituality Centre in Halifax. I was there this week and she gave me a poem she wrote. My prayer today is part of her poem, which she dedicates to god.
Yes, life is a complicated mass/mess of choices. Yet I am grateful for it all. Here is my prayer last Sunday at Bedford United in NS.
Everyone's life is an emotional rollercoaster. We are all confronted with problems that are personal and global. This week we all felt stress about the havoc Hurricane Milton created in Florida. We are all worried about the violence in the middle east, and the ramifications for us if it escalates. We all have opinions about the upcoming elections in HRM and in the United States. There always seems to be something to be concerned about.
But then we look outside and we see nature showing off its brilliance, with an intensity of colour we rarely see. And many of us saw the Northern Lights and a double rainbow this week. Twenty-two women from our church are still smiling from the joy-filled time we had at our Tatamagouche retreat. Some of us have friends and family we are sharing food and time with this Thanksgiving weekend. Most of us have an abundance of blessings to be grateful for.
Gratitude helps us to internalise the intensity of our senses, our thoughts, and the overwhelming beauty of the Earth and all life on it. It is through being grateful that our hearts open to the wonder and pleasure of being alive. Despite our difficulties, we can feel fabulous if we choose to focus on what is going well instead of what is problematic. Daily we can give thanks to God for all that is good and life affirming.
Kimberly King is a Sister of Charity at the Barat Spirituality Centre in Halifax. I was there this week and she gave me a poem she wrote. My prayer today is part of her poem, which she dedicates to god.
As we gather in the company we keep this day,
we give thanks for the meal ahead of us.
We give thanks for the people around us.
we ask that your blessing come in its fullness,
upon all that we each hold in our hearts,
upon all that is held in this world.
You are near and here and Love.
Amen