The Community of Saint Joseph shares their Gratitudes with you during this season of Thanksgiving.
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I am grateful for the many healthcare and public servants who have reached out during this pandemic to heal, to feed, to hold others loved ones as they passed while in quarantine, to help in so many ways spreading hope and kindness as we now begin the journey out of the darkness of the last couple of years.
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I am grateful that so many are making a commitment our dear earth to help her heal and to learn all the lessons of reciprocity, the beauty of diversity and the recognition of the divine in all of creation.
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I am grateful to people worldwide who each day consciously conserve our most precious resource: Water.
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I am grateful for the Blessings of: community, family, good friends, good health, the kindness of people and the changing seasons.
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I am truly thankful for the generous gifts God has showered up on me throughout my life. I am especially grateful to be part of the truly loving family of my birth as well as the SSJ community family to which I belong.
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I am grateful for the guidance, encouragement and support I receive to live one day at a time.
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I lift up my heart to you, O, God, in gratitude…
- for the vaccine that guards me from Covid and for all the workers that keep us safe.
- for the honey-locust tree outside my window who beautifully reminds me of the changing seasons.
- for the visit of a dear friend I hadn’t seen in 10 years.
- for the Community of St. Joseph that keeps the fire of the charism burning.
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I am so very thankful to the scientists that generated the vaccine for Covid-19 and kept me safe.
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I am grateful for the privilege of being a member of the Community of the Great Love of God.
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Giving thanks to our Lord every day for all His blessings on me – they are many.
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I am so grateful for the extraordinary and creative efforts of our leadership team to keep us in touch with one other during these many months of isolation!
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I am grateful for each sunrise giving me renewed energy and hope and each sunset bringing a glorious finale to my day. During these majestic moments the world stands still and the fire of Spirit fills my soul.
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“I am thankful for Blessings and Memories held in my heart.”
My offerings for thankfulness:
- seeing a hand giving a bowl of food to a starving child.
- surprises of life from Mother Earth.
- a new healthy baby boy born to my grandniece
Random Acts of Kindness:
- farmers giving their produce to others in need.
- genuinely good people who make a quiet but powerful difference in others lives.
- our Leadership Team’s strength in joy and sorrow.
Also:
- for the many insights the Spirit has graced my life.
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I would like to think “gratitude” describes my whole life. Early on, I learned gratitude was a choice. I had great parents and brothers for which I was grateful. Friendships blessed every segment of my life. There were many moments of great happiness, as well as difficult times. During times of crisis gratitude became the healer that helped me cope with crises. Today, my gratitude goes back to God because crises helped me become the person I am.
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I am grateful to live in comfort while also being able to share my resources with those who are less fortunate.
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I am grateful for this poem that flowed from me many years ago when I took a vow to know water…
TO know WATER
See her flow as you show up
And see her go where all does grow.
Just to be here, without fear. Stay near.
All is clear.
Life is a gift
Is meant to drift and to shift.
Allow her to lift you to a new place through grace,
Where are you see your face in every race.
Love does such things, you know,
Though usually slow, not necessarily so.
Blow you winds of change, blow!
Author: Natalie Cain
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I am thankful for so many things, but the one that immediately came to mind was being thankful for my eyes, especially at this time of year. Albert Camus stated “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” I can look out my window and see the beautiful leaves that are very bright and glow in the sun. I can see some beautiful breathtaking sunsets and I can walk in the leaves on the ground and hear them crunch under my feet. I am in awe how the trees know when to prepare for winter to reserve their sap and how they go against gravity by providing food to the very top of the tree the rest of the year. Even though the trees may look dormant or dead, there is a lot going on underground that we don’t see but they use for food and to survive. There is nothing better than to walk among these beauties!
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I am grateful for my friends and family because they enrich my life immensely. They are my lifeline.
I will find these reasons to be grateful for each day:
Find something outside you enjoy looking at
Find something you love playing with
Find something that makes you feel safe
Find some thing that makes you laugh
Find something you enjoy doing in the morning
Find a person you love being with
Find your favorite place to rest
Find something that reminds you that you are loved
Find something that makes a beautiful sound
Find something you love doing by yourself
Find someone who gives great hugs
Find something soft and snuggly
Find something you enjoy doing after dinner
Find something delicious to eat
Find a book that makes you happy when you read it
Find something that keeps you warm when it’s cold
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I AM SO VERY GRATEFUL FOR ALL OF THE NEW FRIENDS GOD SENT MY WAY THIS PAST YEAR.
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I am thankful for the gifts so little, so tender, so humble that they have no names in the light and shadow we call life.
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I am grateful to find peace and and joy each day in the Cathedral of nature.
CLOSING PRAYER
With hearts filled with joy, we thank you, God of Creation, Cosmos Builder, for the mystery of a universe holding us spellbound and for Earth, our Home in that universe. We praise you for Your handiwork, the uniqueness and diversity of the marvelous creatures who fill our planet. We thank You Loving God, for each of us, human, yet created in Your image and likeness, aware of our uniqueness and diversity but realizing that in communion we are so much more. For life and all its gifts, we praise You and ask Your Blessing, God Creator, Jesus, Word Incarnate, and Spirit of Love. Amen.
Author: Simone Rodrigues