OUT OF PLACE, BURIED NOT FAR UNDERNEATH

The practice of gratefulness can take me from a crazy brain to a place of peace.  If I can stop and for a moment remember all the good I have; it is in that moment that my fear quiets down and I can gain a bit of perspective. The practice of gratitude does not mean that I don’t go back to fearfulness at times or that I don’t forget what I have been given, it does mean though that through the spiritual practice of gratitude my heart gets softer and I learn to trust.

St. Francis said of gratitude: 

“[The Creator] gives you the mountains and the valleys for your refuge, and the tall trees wherein to build your nests, and as you can neither spin nor sew God clothes you, you and your children. Your Creator loves you much, since [the Creator] has dealt so bounteously with you: and so beware, little sisters of mine, of the sin of ingratitude, but ever strive to praise God.”

I am learning how to be grateful sometimes through the consequences of ingratitude.  Pain is often a powerful motivator.