Aligning with Grace

We end a month where we celebrated the harvest, abundance, and gratitude, culminating with Thanksgiving before now launching into Advent and preparations for Christmas. It is proper and fitting that we acknowledge these things so that we can best prepare our hearts for the Advent Season, which in turn prepares us for Christmas. The vast majority of people are unaware of this important season and skip it, jumping into the celebration of Christmas itself. But then, most have lost the reason for the season... But that is another story and entry... Today, I wish to share some additional thoughts on gratitude... I came across this quote, among many other beautiful ones on Thanksgiving Day, and I have pondered it over and over again, because it truly summarizes for me what this is really all about: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.  It turns what we have into enough, and more.  It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order,  confusion to clarity. It c...

Today, is a day for being grateful, for giving thanks. And there is so much to be grateful for. I often marvel, that as a nation, we set aside a day to give thanks. Not everyone does this. And yet those who live here, even temporarily, often continue this practice when they return to their places of origin. So today, take a moment to give thanks - wherever you might be - whether you normally observe Thanksgiving or not. And here are two offerings to help you in this endeavor: A free 90 second meditation I post daily on both Facebook and YouTube , and an inspirational quote posted daily by Every Day Spirit. Enjoy! "There is Nothing too Small for Gratitude" Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meditationpureandsimple YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bURrHn6wqEs&list=UU2XjLZ3NY9cLLPRMj_Bi0sw Every Day Spirit: https://www.facebook.com/everydayspirit1

Two weeks ago today, I celebrated my birthday in the land of of Israel - the Promised Land to a people that had lived long in exile... Two weeks ago today, in the company of friends, I celebrated my birthday in a way I could never have imagined, even just a year ago, even though I was so filled and overwhelmed with the places visited, that I could not even dwell on the significance of the day for me. We had hired a driver for the day to take us to various sites, and he also suggested some others that were nearby that we had not considered or did not know about. Originally, we had hoped to take two day trips, but in the end there was enough to see and experience in Jerusalem - so much so - that I can envision returning there some day to do the city and environs more justice. Though we had planned to go to Jericho and could not fit it in, we were able to survey the city from a kibbutz and it was especially memorable to situate the city and its terrain within the context of bi...

While my immediate area managed to skirt the worst of what Hurricane Sandy had to offer - particularly when it merged with a couple of winter storms - I cannot say the same for friends in the New Jersey and New York areas that were simply devastated... As I watched a lot of the news these last couple of days, many referred to these extreme weather situations as the "new normal." We have indeed witnessed things pretty regularly that are both extreme and catastrophic. I think of the earthquake here last year, and the "Derecho" storm this summer that wreaked havoc in scorching heat and left us without power for days. In the midst of all these situations I cannot explain, I simply choose to have a grateful heart. I am reminded of Meister Eckhart's often quoted saying: "if the only prayer you ever say is thank you, it would be enough." To begin and end every day with a grateful heart is a practice - and its fruits are a blessing. I went down t...

Recently, I picked up the book Living in Gratitude: A Journey That Will Change Your Life , by Angeles Arrien . Marianne Williamson , one of my favorite authors, wrote the Forward. This is a practical book designed to enable you to cultivate the practice of gratitude throughout the year. Arrien begins her book with this often quoted pearl of wisdom by Meister Eckhart : "If the only prayer you say in your whole life is thank you, that would suffice." The introduction contains such rich and wonderful material that fed my themes and comments in my classes this past week. If you wish to increase your gratefulness a thousand-fold - or even just ten times, this is the book for you. Let me end by sharing some of the wonderful insights from the Introduction to this book... "Every language in the world has a way of saying 'thank you...' Gratitude crosses all boundaries... Gratitude is essentially the recognition of the unearned increments of value in one's experience.....

I returned late yesterday, from the most amazing trip to Istanbul and Ephesus, so filled with spiritual experiences and graces, and I will write about it shortly. But today, as with many of you, my thoughts dwell on all the things that I am grateful for, ever mindful, as Meister Eckhart once affirmed, that: "If the only prayer you ever say is thank you, it would be enough." And so, I share with you a prayer by the German theologian, Deitrich Bonhoeffer , who was put to death by the Nazis, and a poem by e.e. cummings : O Heavenly Father, I praise and thank you For the peace of the night. I praise and thank you for this new day. I praise and thank you for the goodness And faithfulness throughout my life. You have granted me many blessings; Now let me also accept what is hard from your hand. You will lay on me no more than I can bear. You make all things work together for the good of your children. Deitrich Bonhoeffer i thank You God for most this amazing day:for t...

Last night, I curled in bed with the book I am currently reading - An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith , by Barbara Brown Taylor , a former parish priest, who currently teaches spirituality. This book is delicious in every way - not one to be raced through - but one to be savored, and so I "tasted" the chapter "The Practice of Saying No." It begins by explaining the historical, cultural, and religious differences between keeping the Sabbath and the Christian practice of observing Sunday - and then explores the value of having one day a week where we say no to doing, and simply enjoy being. Taylor begins the chapter with this quote from Meister Eckhart: "God is not found in the soul by adding anything but by subtracting." A couple of pages into the chapter, she quotes the Swiss theologian Karl Barth : "A being is free only when it can determine and limit its activity." Later, she refers to Abraham Heschel : "The first holy thing in ...