How can you be truly tough
In this painful world?
How can you stand firm
When the spears of agony are hurled?

Most people in the proud US of A
Don't have a clue of the
price they have to pay.

Western people do not know
What hardship really is.
So gratitude is lacking...
It is this...


Gratitude is having a ***
That doesn't leak,
To walk miles for diseased
Water from a creek.

Gratitude in thanking God
For the dry wood
To cook the rice or millet
For your food.

Gratitude is finding
A pair of shoes
In a garbage heap
That you can use.

Gratitude is finding
Pesos in your hand
When you beg the streets
In a poor land.

Gratitude is escaping
Vicious thugs
Who deal in human
Trafficking and drugs.

Gratitude is Hellen Keller
With no hope
Finding Annie Sullivan
To cope.

Gratitude is having NOTHING
And in pain
On one's deathbed, but yet
The fact remains

They are redeemed
And they have Lord Jesus' grace
So they know that they
Will look in his sweet face.

Being tough is seeing life
As is and still not breaking
Being brave and looking
Not forsaking

Being tough is a
Mental attitude.
Loving God and thanking Him

It's GRATITUDE.**


SoulSurvivor
Catherine Jarvis
(C) September 28, 2014

Lord you made the universe so vast with one word you spoke creation into existence. But for all of that power, still you have carved me into the palm of your hand. You knew me, all of me perfectly from the beginning of time and you love me: not just some of me, but all of me. You love me so much that you gave up everything, came as a helpless baby, were betrayed by your closest friends, tortured, bled and died for ME. I didn’t deserve it and I can’t earn it, but you gave your life away. Sometimes I take it for granted and I forget how amazing it is and how much you love me. I ask that you would help me show love to others in my life and tell them thanks and how much they mean to me. You give me the ability to breath, to smile, to put my feet on the floor and wake up each morning. I am so grateful. I pray that you would open my eyes to truly see just how richly blessed I am. From the family and friends I have, this country, this faith, the gifts and talents you have bestowed on me to share with others. There are so many things to be grateful for that we don’t even think of: food and water, shelter, clothes to wear, the seasons, having a job. Lord help me see with the eyes of a child, to look at the world with joy and wonder and awe. The rain helps the flowers grow, the beauty in a blade of grass, to find healing in the pain, joy in the sorrow. Lord, I also know that finding things to be grateful for changes our perspective, attitude, and outlook. Even on the bad days, when we look for something positive, the day seems better. Help me give thanks with a grateful heart. Even if it is a simple “Thank you God for getting me through this terrible day!!” there is always something to be grateful and thankful for. Lord, help me to look at this world and see the myriad of good things and blessings that you have so wonderfully and richly given. Help me be more mindful of this fact and then give you thanks. Grant me a grateful heart and a joyful soul. Thank you Lord for your presence in my life and all the gifts you have given me. I love you Lord help me to express that love and gratitude in a more real and dynamic way.
Amen

When we are aware of what we have been given and what Christ did for us; when we understand the depth of this love, mercy and grace, we cannot help but turn and do likewise for the world out of gratitude for this gift. We sing because we are thankful. We sing to give him praise and glory and because we are grateful for what he has done for us. We sing because we are grateful to him for the gifts that he has given us and we want to give something back to God. We use the voices and talents he gave us, to turn and give that gift to others and give him the fruits of his blessing. He doesn’t need our singing our praise and adoration, but it gives him joy that we bless him and others with the blessings he has given us.

When we pause for a moment to look around at all that he has created we are overwhelmed by the splendor and majesty of it all. How can we not say “Thank you God for all of this. How great how marvelous is your creation!”

A little bit of gratitude goes a long way as does a little bit of kindness. Congratulate someone on a job well done, give them an affirmation and see the smile on their face. That is gratitude.

Gratitude: short for great attitude.

The 9 Keys for living a life of Gratitude

G is for Grace
R is for Rejoice(ing)
A is for Awe(full)
T is for Thanks
I is for Inspired
T is for Thoughtful
U is for Understanding
D is for Dynamic
E is for Eucharist(ic) Adoration
(And Exceptional!)

I couldn't be me without you.

Word Association 101©

Today’s word is G-R-A-T-I-T-U-D-E

Select the option you like best as there is no real solution,
and this isn't a real test

So take a position, if it is not an imposition
after all this is nothing but fiction, not a prediction

Leave your hesitation and caution at the door
and put the pedal to the floor

So without procrastination or introduction move trepidation
to elation

Take the plunge it’s not a leap,
for someone here will say throw this on a heap

It may be taken with affection or rejection and
probably needs correction

But onward we go for somehow I must make this flow
Tick the right box if there is such a thing or give it your best fling
If you can’t think of anything

Gratitude is...
Satisfaction
Appreciation
Creation

Gratitude isn’t...
Crude
Lewd
Or attitude

Gratitude leads to...
Fascination
Imagination
Intimate relations

Gratitude may bring...
Evolution
Re-action
Hug action

Gratitude is for...
A job well done
A rising sun
That special someone_

Gratitude, let’s start a revolution that leads to emotion
and maybe to a promotion

Gratitude, life’s gift that keeps on giving
and a premonition in addition

Gratitude, for brothers and sisters and others too, pass it along for all to share because we really do care

Andreas Simic©

Today, the words came to me
Wrapped in their exclusive finery
Ready to take me with them
On a tour of the unknown alleys
Of my heart, not visited by me
Each word is a guide, leading me
Towards the core of gratitude
Being an avid traveler
I was yet to take this journey
With childlike glee I read each word
Feelings which lay unexpressed
Were touched by the magic message
Like each new day brings fresh hope
Each word spoke with such grace
The roots of joy are rejuvenated
And springs to blossom eternally
To greet me with varied colors
Of happiness, gratitude and hope
Living each day in wonder
Soft morning light ushers new day
Gratitude in my prayer
Before I start a brand new day

For this years Thanksgiving, I have decided to focus on developing a sense of gratitude. The world is full of real bad stuff happening to too many people and its easy to let the darkness of our times cast long shadows of resentment, anger and ill will over our outlook on life. So today as I travel to a relatives home to gather for our national day of thankfulness I choose to leave resentments at home and cultivate a sense of gratitude.

I’m grateful for my eyes. My sight allows me to perceive the million graces The Almighty abundantly confers upon the inhabitants of the good earth each and every day. My eyes help me to discover the pressing needs of others and respond to it. My eyes help me to discern light from darkness, distinguish the forest from the trees and eschew pedestrian views to behold a beautiful vista. My eyes are a pathway to my soul moving me to contemplate the good, forsake the bad and move against evil in service to truth.

I’m grateful for my ears. The grace of hearing permits me to listen. My ears alert me to the cries of my brothers and sisters and enables me to understand our shared human condition. My ears tune my spirit to the chords of exquisite music and the natural symphonies of Mother Earth’s angelic chorus of singing birds, heaving oceans, the majestic pause of silent mountains and the fleeting rush of the swelling wind are all divine voices singing the joyful hymns of life.

I’m thankful for my sense of smell. Graciously my nose breathes in the inviting aroma of a lovingly prepared home cooked meal, the wholesome scent of baking bread wafting from the door of the corner bakery, a briny snort from the boundless sea, the rich compost of the deep woods after a soft summer rain, the bouquet of an infants hair and the perfume of a lovers embrace.

I give thanks for my ability to touch. Hands engaged in productive work and gainful employment is a blessing absent from too many Thanksgiving Day tables this year. We yearn to connect and the sense of touch invites our ability to feel. Feeling is the father of empathy and the mother of compassion. Caring for our animal friends we live in communion with all sentient beings.  As we touch one another and allow others to touch us; the hardest of hearts is softened, the most grievous wounds are healed to liberate the sensual yearnings dwelling in the deepest recesses of ourselves. Feeling allows us to become fully present, fully aware and fully alive in the celebration of what it means to be fully human.

I’m thankful for my sense of taste. As Sinatra croons “from the brim to the dregs” the wine of our lives may not all taste good but it all flows clear and true. Sample, savor and learn. Taste and see the glories of the Lord’s banquet so abundantly placed before us. The bitter herbs, the sweet cakes, the leisure repast, the fortifying meal and unrequited hunger is the daily bread of being human.  Pause to consider those that are lining up for the tenth Thanksgiving Day meal in Afghanistan and Iraq and pray that the awful rations of war fed to our young soldiers be supplanted with the good manna of peace.

Perhaps we loose our sense of gratitude because expectations of ourselves and others always seems to come up short of the mark. Imperfection is our most endearing quality. It informs our ability to forgive transgressions, form bonds of friendship and unconditionally love each other. I remain grateful for the sense of my imperfection as I overlook your imperfections and remain ever hopeful that you  will extend your hand to help me overcome mine.

Happy Thanksgiving.

You Tube Video: Jean Ritchie, Shady Grove

Thank you ~
for a life not to trade
blessings, in spades
tight spaces
behind laundry doors
packed closets
and open drawers
gator tails, tarnished brass
cracks in kitchen sliding glass
wet towels, withering plants
foundation filled
with carpenter ants
buckets piled with
shoes and tags
village clothes
and saddlebags
peeling paint
and broken walls
****** seats
in bathroom stalls
clogged pantry
frigid rooms
table scribe
and carbon fumes
comfort capsules
empty tanks
broken limbs
from children’s pranks
**** finger
double tongue
long goodbyes
and sidewalk dung
cluster flies
chavie’ clique
accompanying
the hypocrite
cracked back
and hidden smiles
chalk on board
with mr miles
atomic wedgies
closing doors
wrotten eggs
and open sores
jaw jack
nasty folk
dinner calls
for pig in poke
penny pinchers
double dip
yellow mouth
and silver tip
brown nosers
thick red tape
paper cuts
and pimple nape
gallivants
so out of norm
the joy of life…
in basic form