'You springs bless the Lord. Sea and rivers bless the Lord [1].' The universe has taught me the language of gratitude during my novitiate years. It is hard to believe though that the canonical year is coming to an end. I tend to believe that our state of the whole being as we come to the end, is the same as the energetic lake waves on the beach of Siena Retreat Center hitting the shore and the flourishing celery in spring; alive, nourished, rooted, reenergized, and singing the Magnificat of gratitude to all that has been and looking forward with faith and hope to all that is to come. There are so many edifying lessons that Mother Earth can teach us if we just stop and gaze.
Siena Retreat Center beach, Racine WI (Lake Michigan)
As I had previously written on the celery’s resilience[2], I am excited to let you know that it has survived the bitter winter snow. Like the celery, the ability to bounce back to life comes with gratitude which realizes the presence and action of God within us and in the world around us all the time. If we can hold on to this spirit of gratitude and make it a daily practice and lifestyle, it can help rewire our brains to be more positive, thus elevate our immunity, increase our enthusiasm in work, improve sleep and increase our long life. Pope Francis had this to say about gratitude, “Above all, let us not forget to thank: if we are bearers of gratitude, the world itself will become better, even if only a little bit, but that is enough to transmit a bit of hope” [3]. This says to me that I can make the world around me better by showing and living a life of gratitude that in turn instills hope.
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Celery in Spring
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We are invited to be people of gratitude, not because our lives are a bed of roses, but because even in the tensions of our everyday life the Spirit within us moves us and strengthens us to forge ahead. Mary the Mother of God, sang her Magnificat even in her state of not knowing what her yes implied. She believed in her own dreaming track, her inner ability to navigate through the unknown. She let it out in her song. The song of gratitude sounds sweeter in circumstances where grace touches us without any warning. An invitation for me to constantly acknowledge the abundance of God's grace in my life.
When the ten lepers were healed, only one went back to express gratitude to Jesus, and he was a Samaritan [4]. I only stand out as far as this passage is concerned when I appreciate what I have become because of the help I have received from others in the community and ministry. I stand out not because I am the best but because I connect with the life-giver Himself. We are called to give thanks in all circumstances; "for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us" [5].
May the universe teach us its love for gratitude, for gratitude attracts abundance. We give gratitude for everything taking place in our favor and show gratitude that the unseen forces of nature are working on our dreams. Gratitude will help raise our vibrations and brings us into harmony with the energy of the Universe. Gratitude can immediately transform all areas of our life. In season and out of the season, like the celery and lake waves, we rejoice and give thanks. We are a people carved out of gratitude and thank you is our song.
"if the only prayer you said in your whole life was 'thank you', that would suffice." - Meister Eckhart
1 Daniel 3: 77-79
4Luke 17:11-19
5 Thessalonians 5:18
