Gratitude 9/23/18

Mother said “Now go write a thank you note to your Grandmother.” Aw Ma ….
Later, Mother asked, “Did you write the thank you note to your Grandmother?” Aw Ma ….
Then Mother said: “After you have written the thank you note to your Grandmother – then you can go out and play.”
I knew enough not to ask her “why?”.
Now, as the dialogue replays in my imagination, I ask her why – and I hear her answer. “Your Grandmother would be tickled to get a thank you note from you. Your Grandmother would think well of me for teaching you some manners. But, my son, It is not for us that you write the note: it is for you.”
Ah yes, I get it.
“It is for your growth – for your growth out of smallness – where you think (without thinking) that the world revolves around you; for your growth in awareness that you are part-of – part of more and more – until you are part of all.”
And if she knew of the UU principles, she might have introduced #7 – “Respect … the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.”
“And you are a part – one of the parts – interdependent!”
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A friend with whom I was discussing thankfulness said“why don’t you keep a gratitude journal?”
“Why?” I replied. I’ve tried – it’s like a chore and I just end up with stuff I seem to take for granted.
And then Mother came to mind. Why? Because it would be something I do for myself – for the cultivation of my awareness. Something to “get me out of my small self” – get me on the road to an expanded awareness. Awareness that, as it grows, takes us beyond ourselves. Like awareness that we are part of the interconnected web of all existence – not just each little critter in the ecology – but bonded to each person here and everywhere – interdependent – and as the mystics have taught – as one.
Thankfulness can do that? Easy peesy. Go thankful – and the awareness will grow – soon you’ll be – be …
With practice. That is what we do here anyway, isn’t it? Our spiritual or religious practice – growing up, cultivating a new mind – an attitude of gratitude – a BE-attitude.
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Why else?
We know thankful people do we not? – people who seem to have this attitude? Yes, I think I see some of them here. And how can you tell?
They look like they’re reaching beyond themselves – they are glad to see you, truly interested in how you are and what you are doing, ready to help wherever they can.
The attitude of gratitude is like “gladitude.” Ever see a glum person who is thankful? I’ve been glum at various times – all pulled down within myself, not much aware of the cares of others around – not much even conceiving of how thankful I might be. Thankfulness seems to feedback in a loop with happiness such that happy people are thankful people and thankful people are happy people. Ergo: gladitude – the be-attitude of gratitude.
And thankfulness is a key part of what we do here – part of a big three of spiritual practice: giving and receiving, thanks-giving and for-giving. These are our practice – all which we do for ourselves (Grandma didn’t “need” the thank you note from me … and neither does the divine “need” our gratitude). It is rather that we need to grow in awareness – and the practice of gratitude, until it becomes a way of be-ing, brings us upward to the grandeur – our birthright – to very happy realizations – realizations that we profess – that we are each part of the independent web of all existence – and that the dignity and worth of each is unassailable – and then the realization that we are loved, that we are not alone, and that we are altogether irreplaceable in the Divine design.
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So, back to my friend’s question about a gratitude journal.
What am I grateful for? It’s not been an easy question to answer. I have realized that just about everything that came to mind as something I am thankful for will, in time, be taken from me. Eventually I will lose my health and friends and possessions. They will all go away in time. And then, what will I be thankful for? Is my gratitude conditional on what is only temporary? That would be foolish. When things and friends and health are gone, will I be left in depression – a grumpy old man – thinking God unfair having left me in loneliness and hardship and dependency.
And yet I know people who seem, despite their conditions, to have a prevailing attitude of gratitude – and they are happy – as if their happiness begets gratitude and their gratitude begets happiness – in a truly sweet feedback loop. And that reminded me of the old-but-true saying, “the best things in life are free.” And with that understanding and the example of these happy folks, I think I have new answers to the question, what am I grateful for.
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What am I thankful for?
First, I am grateful for love – what I know of it, what I have experienced of it, that it seems to me to be the essence of God, the Spirit that has brought forth life, and the power within the great Spirit’s design that causes life to thrive and leads to happiness.
Love does not force. I am thankful that despite all the momentous and cruel forces that seem to coerce our ways, love does not force anyone or anything – yet it is the only power that works – that does not self-destruct – that will endure and win. Happy day!
Love and freedom are inseparable. I am thankful that I am free in my inner life of thought and feeling and imagination and inspiration , and that this birthright of freedom is a confirmation that I am loved – because love does not make slaves or robots.
Love cannot be contained. I am thankful for the fruits of the Spirit of life as they grow and are experienced within me. For the swell of joy and energy that comes with inspiration, and for the experience that love cannot be contained – as it flows into and through my being and out to others – growing, not diminishing, as it is given.
I am thankful that the Great Spirit, through Jesus and Buddha and Dr. Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela – and so many others – have taught us non-violence, restorative justice, unlimited forgiveness, and to love one another, and that we are all One in the Spirit.
I am thankful for my mind, a mind through which I can communicate and connect with all around me, a mind through which I can originate, receive and consider countless thoughts.
I am thankful that my mind – by my choice – can align with the Spirit of life and the power of love to serve me and those around me with thoughtfulness, with creativity, with clarity of intention, with courage, and with innocence and peace.
Likewise, I am thankful that I always have a choice in my mind, a choice of how to see and what to think and how to respond – and that I am reinforced with meaningfulness and peacefulness when I make my choices in concert with love and the still, small voice of calm.
I am thankful for “ah ha” moments, for those times when the answers and solutions come as if rewards for my asking with patience.
I am thankful that I am never alone.
I am thankful for my cherished life companions, for family and friends, and for bonds preserved in memory.
I am thankful for companions and friends and helpers along my way who have demonstrated – for my benefit – their faith, their strength, their caring and compassion, their helpfulness and generosity, their way of gratitude, their inner light and peacefulness, their kindness and healing touch, their forgiveness, and their happy presence.
I am thankful for the great cloud of witnesses, the saints and sages, the teachers of all time and the teachers who have been present in this time: the witnesses to unconditional love, the witnesses to the sacred in all life, the witnesses to unending life, the witnesses to the possibilities for my health and growth and transformation.
I am thankful that there are ways I can be helpful and make contributions wherever I am.
I am thankful for experiences in my life that have helped to build my resilience and trust and optimism and acceptance and faith that all will be well and that all I need will be provided.
I am thankful for the service of my body, especially for my voice and hands, for the time I need them.
I am thankful for my beating heart which reliably knows the right from wrong, and which brings to my awareness feelings of acceptance and appreciation and affection. I am thankful for music, for sounds that arouse feelings of joy and grandeur and solace, for the gifts of Bach and the Beatles, Bruckner and Mahler, for the magnificence of the organ and the orchestra, for the way a heart can speak through bells and rhythms, for the song of the wind and that magnificent percussion instrument: thunder.
I am thankful for colors and shapes, for the artwork of Monet and Turner and so many others, and for the way in which great art and architecture and literature and composition lift me up and tell me that the Spirit of life is at work all around me – a free gift to us all.
And yes, I am thankful for my health and for food and all the material abundance surrounding me – knowing that these may pass.
I am thankful that the best things in life are free.
There – is that enough? I got to thinking about what I was glad about, and the thoughts just rolled to me – more every day. But, did you notice I used the word “glad” – thinking about all of these “things” I am glad about? What I meant to say was that these are what I am thankful about. But, is there any difference? Isn’t thankfulness to-be-glad-about? And gladness is good reason to be thankful. Let’s coin a new word: “gladitude.” You can substitute “glad” for thankful in all these instances. And see what’s happening: as we become aware of our gratitude we are happier, and if we are more happy – then all the more reason to be grateful. See, it’s a feedback loop. Could you imagine a better plan for a happy life, could you see through to the divine design – that we are obviously meant to be happy, that happiness is our birthright?
I am thankful – that I am thankful – because this awareness makes me realize my blessed state and brings up within me happy feelings and contentment.

OFFERTORY
We give thanks for this church, for the principles upon which we stand, for the miracle that causes us to form a congregation from diversity, for our legacy from the faith of John and Judith Murray, and for this learning place wherein we encourage and remind each other that the ways of love are “built in” and that we are One in the spirit.
We are thankful that we have a true sanctuary, where the very purpose of the building and the staff is to serve each one of us with spiritual food – nourishment experienced by us as welcome acceptance, experienced as beauty in forms of silence and sound, experienced as encouragement in forms of prayer and words selected and prepared with great care, and experienced as renewal and reunion with one another and the divine presence within each of us. Where else is this renewal and reunion the intended purpose of our gatherings? What if it was hard to find – a place where you could sit in silence with others who wanted the same nourishment? What if it was hard to get to -to a place where you could hear one of the most magnificent musical instruments mankind has ever made. And we have someone here who can play it for us. What if it was hard to find a group of folks who longed for liberal religion, who want their questioning scientific minds respected, who want to be free and feel free as they move – sometimes very tenderly and hesitantly – toward an experience of the spirit of life?
This is a precious jewel in our lives – offered here freely, for free, and then with coffee and dessert after!
In gratitude, we now make our offering.

Prayer

In the beautiful silence of our sacred space we lift up our hearts.
From the depths of our hearts, we pray for peace: peace in our relationships, peace in our homes, peace in our communities and our country, peace in our world. We say, let peace begin with me. We say, after St Francis, make me an instrument of your peace.
Let peace like a river flow into the hearts and offices of those who govern the people everywhere.
May there always be encouragement among us for growth in gratitude – growth in compassion and love – and for growth in forgiveness and reconciliation.
May your great spirit who brought life and inspiration to our teachers
– to the saints and mystics and the prophets and healers
– may this same spirit – the spirit of love – the allness of all – be stirred up within us now.

Readings:
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
133 Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore.
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From Hosea Ballou (1771 – 1852) – was a father of American Universalism – self-educated – he became the president of Tufts University.
“If we agree in love, there is no disagreement that can do us any injury, but if we do not, no other agreement can do us any good.
Let us endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace.”
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My commentary: We have formed a congregation of our diversity, and that is our agreement in love.