"Ten times a day something happens to me like this - some strengthening throb of amazement - some good sweet empathic ping and swell. This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness." - Mary Oliver
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| The Hull family's Gratitude Jar |
My days can fly by with nothing of significance noted or named. But a reading of David Steindal-Rast's Common Sense Spirituality rekindled my sense of gratitude. I started naming what was right before me, what I had been missing all along. I recorded these blessings in a journal. Strange, but I now find my days are less
hectic and more calm.
A sampling of my December 2012 list:
- Gentle dance of white pine needles in the breeze...dares one to touch the softness...
- Wonderful group of confirmation guys...love every one of them...
- Song of the chickadee..."Praise God, Praise God..."
- Babysitting my little girls...Christmas spirit with jingle bells...
- Ladies' party...lots of chatter and smiles...
- Decorated Christmas tree...spectacular brightness in the dark...calming...
- The smell of gingerbread cookies fill the house...evokes memories...
- Snow...winter beauty...Christmas lights are magically transformed...
- Sky at dusk, a marbled midnight blue...wish that I could pull it down like gossamer and make myself a dress...maybe with one star...
- Lovely cardinals on bird feeder...
For this Christmas season, I placed a "Gratitude Jar" upon the kitchen table. My family and I are filling it with new blessings: a memory, a growth, a hope, wisdom gleaned from a Bible reading, something funny, something quiet, a sadness shared, a milestone reached, perhaps even a forgotten family memory renewed once again.
On Christmas Day, when we empty the contents of the gratitude jar, I wonder: what we will find?
Priscilla Hull is a wife and mom of two grown sons.
