GRATITUDE
Daily Devotional
Cultivate gratitude each day this month.
Day 21: Grateful for Mentors
- Scripture: Proverbs 27:17 — As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
- Meditation: Mr Rogers said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
We are shaped by more than our family of origin. Sometimes a few key relationships, such as caring individuals who see our individuality and remain present to us through the ups and downs of different parts of our lives, or those who open up new experiences and ideas to us, also influence us. Who has been an honorable and significant influence in your life, beyond your family? What teachers, coaches, and mentors have guided and inspired you? - Spiritual Practice: Reach out to a mentor or someone you admire, expressing your gratitude for their influence in your life.
SONGS:
- You’ve Got a Friend in Me by Randy Newman: https://youtu.be/nMN4JZ8crVY?si=HoEaNzoDWVI4THRV
- You Raise Me Up performed by Josh Groban: https://youtu.be/aJxrX42WcjQ?si=X257vg_jtJz4NNYH
Theme for English B — Langston Hughes
The instructor said,
Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you—
Then, it will be true.
I wonder if it’s that simple?
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went to school there, then Durham, then here
to this college on the hill above Harlem.
I am the only colored student in my class.
The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem,
through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,
Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,
the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator
up to my room, sit down, and write this page:
It’s not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I’m what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me—we two—you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York, too.) Me—who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records—Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white—
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That’s American.
Sometimes perhaps you don’t want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that’s true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me—
although you’re older—and white—
and somewhat more free.
This is my page for English B.