Dear friends,
A couple of days ago I visited a friend and as we sat and chatted in the shade I couldn't but notice her dog resting at her feet,
The picture of relaxation and contentment.
The dog was lying on its side,
Its legs outstretched,
Its mouth and nose lying comfortably on the ground.
Maybe so often the dog would give a contented stretch before yawning and relaxing again.
I'm not suggesting that to do this meditation you need to lie with your face and nose to the floor,
But you might like to take a lesson from that little incident and see if you can just sit contentedly for a while and just be.
Our opening words before the opening bell come to us from John Milton.
Gratitude bestows reverence,
Allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies,
Those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.
I give thanks for the gift of this new day.
I give thanks for the gift of my life,
For my father and mother,
My grandparents,
Great-grandparents and ancestors stretching back through the mists of time.
Through some incomprehensible sequence of events I have come to be here.
That awareness gives me a feeling that my existence is an astonishing gift,
The response to which must be a continuous thank you.
Meister Eckhart tells us that if the only prayer we ever say is thank you,
It is enough.
I give thanks for the numberless people who support my life.
I give thanks for the providers of food,
And for the systems that allow me to have light at the tripping of a switch and water at the torn of a tap.
I give thanks for the air that I breathe,
And for the delicately balanced miracle by which plants give off life-giving oxygen to us in exchange for the carbon dioxide that we exhale for them.
I give thanks for the beauty of the earth,
For its ever-changing skies,
Its mountains,
Hills and valleys,
Its rivers and lakes,
And its interconnected seas washing upon every shore.
I give thanks for the sun that gives us light and warmth by day,
And for the magic of the night sky,
The moon and the stars,
The galaxies made familiar to us through the astounding advances of science.
I give thanks for human intelligence,
For our ability to communicate,
For the variety of languages and cultures,
For the networks of cooperation that enable people to work together for the common good.
Let us hope and pray that through becoming more aware of our common humanity we may at last learn to use our vast resources for works of peace and study war no more.
I give thanks for inspirational leaders and imaginative thinkers,
And for all the people throughout history who have inspired us and who inspire us still and encourage us to be better people than we might otherwise be.
At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.
Albert Schweitzer reminds us that each of us has caused to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.
I give thanks for those who are different from me,
Who make me re-examine my views,
Who do not simply accept the status quo,
But who have the imagination to ask questions and to dream of things that never were,
And ask why not.
May the world around us inspire us to think thoughts of awe and wonder,
And may happiness,
Peace,
Harmony and contentment be the reward of every period in our lives when we stop and look around in gratitude.
Before the closing bell,
Our closing thought,
This one comes from Elizabeth Gilbert,
The author of Eat,
Pray,
Love.
In the end though,
Maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives.
In the end,
Maybe it's wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity,
And to just keep saying thank you,
Forever and sincerely,
For as long as we have voices.
Namaste.
