GRATITUDE
Dear readers, this is the time now to reflect about
Gratitude. The year 2018 is ending and 2019 is coming. I am grateful about many
things past and to Michael Meade whom I consider my mentor for the last 10
years or so. He still inspires me with his talks and writings. This is his
message:
“In these dark and confusing times, we need occasions of
grace and moments of wholeness to rekindle our spirits as well as ease our
souls. Holidays and holy days found all over the world are intended to bring us
back to the sense that life is a gift continuously waiting to be revealed and
that our souls can be a source of abundance through even the darkest times.
Cicero is credited with having stated that “gratitude is the
parent of all virtues.” He may have been considering that becoming grateful, if
only for a moment, can make us feel whole again. He may have known that the
feeling of gratitude is secretly connected to the gift of life and that each
time we experience life as a gift, our life takes on greater meaning.
Gratitude can be difficult to express because it comes from
a deep place in the heart where pain can also dwell. Yet, as indicated by the
old practice of “saying grace” to convey thankfulness, gratitude and grace are
connected. Feeling grateful and expressing gratitude helps to bring grace back
into the world.
The presence of gratitude also serves as an indication of
the natural nobility in our souls. Although thankfulness may be expressed in
words, gratitude appears in each act of consciously giving as well as in the
moments of gratefully receiving. In that sense, the giving of even the smallest
gift can be a genuine expression of gratitude for the gift of life.”
Michael
Meade
Here and Now, other reflections emerge when we approach the new
year: Faith, Hope and Love.
Living in Australia, we call it a natural paradise.
This vast continent is full of natural gifts to all. Looking at a Jacaranda
tree in my yard, full of purple flowers, I am aware of the “treeness” and enjoy
the process of change and growth. The tree expresses Hope in its capacity of
changing (leaves, flowers, seeds etc) are a promise of new birth and growth.
This renewal is a symbol of Faith that all is in process. The branches and
leaves give protection and food to the great variety of birds, butterflies,
caterpillars and moths. This is an expression of Love – a sharing of everything
that the tree can offer. The roots carry nutrients and minerals for the tree
and keeps everything growing with each season. Each process is ‘invisible’ to
us. But the tree is giving of its Love to all.
As I reflect about this 'tree' metaphor given by Keith Buzzell
(Parabola 2018), I become aware how all of humanity must express gratitude for
the wonders of Nature. Simply by observing the natural rhythm of trees I feel
an impulse of loving the full expression of living in all beings, human and
non-human. I can recognise the “me” in the presence of what is surrounding me
at all times.
That awareness stimulates a sense of eternity shown in the
cycles of life and of Hope that Love is ever present in ALL. Finally, I am Grateful
to C.G. Jung who was the first to formulate and describe the meaning of
COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS, the universal phenomena that expresses all collective
life.
