GRATITUDE Daily Devotional: Nov 9
Cultivate gratitude each day this month.
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:13 – That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
- Reflection: Everyday moments can be cause for gratitude. Recognizing God’s presence in the mundane elevates our experience.
- Action: Thank God for three simple moments today, no matter how small.
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:13 – That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
Reflection: Have you heard the phrase ‘quotidian moments’? Daily experiences can be cause for gratitude. Recognizing the holiness, the sacredness, of Love’s presence in ‘regular’, mundane, common experiences elevates our overall awareness of the significance of everyday life! Maybe it’s waiting for you to discover in acts such as brushing your teeth, washing dishes, using the toilet, putting out the trash, doing laundry, or other self-care acts, chores, errands, and simple tasks.
Prompt: Give thanks for three simple moments today, no matter how small. What is something you do every day, and possibly overlook, yet realize deserves tour recognition and appreciation?
SONGS:
- Forgiveness by Matthew West: https://youtu.be/h1Lu5udXEZI?si=iUSxf1bFGD5S784R
BBC Radio 4 has been broadcasting ‘moments of light’ in which people celebrate quotidian pleasures such as hanging out the washing, lashing butter onto hot crumpets, or indulging in the back catalogue of some long-running TV series. But this trope has not met with universal acclaim. Annoyed by such apparent trivia, Rob Delaney delivered a moving account of the death of his son, and the boy’s continued presence in the daily life of his family. His moment of light had begun with contemplation of his own mortality.
We cannot ignore the dark side of the quotidian. For those whose home is a place of fear and cruelty, the pandemic has brought extra suffering. One woman I read about remembered her abusive husband’s chilling remark on hearing news of the first lockdown: ‘now the games begin’. For others, daily life in these times has been about isolation, loneliness and a creeping ‘social death’ wherein one’s own life becomes less and less relevant to others. For many sick or dying with Covid, separation from loved ones, fear, distress have all exacerbated its terrible physical symptoms, turning daily life into a nightmare.
Full article: Aspects of daily life, https://davidgrahamclark.net/2021/01/21/aspects-of-daily-life/
Advent Daily Devotional: WEEK of PEACE: DAY 10 -Tue, Dec 7
Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace—
in peace because they trust in you. — Isaiah 26:3
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord
shall be your rear guard. — Isaiah 58:8
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When you light Advent candles or read and reflect, you are participating in a contemplative practice. Peace grows out of such habits.
Such practices strengthen the spiritual muscles upon which you draw. They create resilience and balance in your body, heart and mind. It can be a still and quiet experience: holding a yoga pose, maintaining a prayer position, or observing utter silence. Sometimes it involves movement of the body such as walking, dancing, or kinesthetic activities like knitting. Maybe it takes the form of unleashing a restless mind through journaling or creative expression. One way or another, set apart time and nurture your spiritual being.
By renewing your energy, you sustain radiance to share and nurture wellbeing to cradle the light within.— Rev Gail
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Sometimes you need to know that you have good people at your back when things go awry in your life.
Good relationships can bring peace of mind, not to mention longer life, companionship, health, happiness, and a host of other benefits. At bottom, we are social creatures who need each other. — Meg Selig
Never fear shadows. They simply mean there’s a light
shining somewhere nearby. – Ruth Renkel
Mon, Nov 30 Gratitude Reflection
As the month draws to a close, appreciate endings. Completions. What has come full circle, and is now finished? What does it offer to you?
Our lives, our calendars, our cultures are filled with origin stories and also tales about how the world will end, or what comes next, when life ends. Our faith also gives us a guide as to what comes next. For instance, death is not the final state of being: life beyond death is promised to us. And yet, one form of ending is mortal death.
Yet we have many other milestones that represent conclusion. Graduations. Retirements. Anniversaries. We create rituals around the completion of certain experiences, such as childhood, education, and work. They celebrate the past, examine history, and then name the end of this stage of life. They clear the path for what comes next.
Endings may look like punctuation marks. Periods. Question marks. Colons that promise there’s more to come.
We have traditions for saying goodbye. For letting go. For releasing. For mourning. For acknowledging many kinds of endings.
Today, give thanks for endings. — Rev Gail
I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. — John 17:4
I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. — Philippians 1:6
But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace. — Acts 20:24
And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something—now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have. — 2 Corinthians 8:10-12
We should say in all joyfulness and cheerfulness as we retire to our beds, “I have lived; I have completed now the course that fortune long ago allotted me.” — Virgil
It is easier to live through someone else than to complete yourself. The freedom to lead and plan your own life is frightening if you have never faced it before. ― Betty Friedan
Rushing into action, you fail.
Trying to grasp things, you lose them.
Forcing a project to completion,
you ruin what was almost ripe.
Therefore the Master takes action
by letting things take their course.
He remains as calm at the end
as at the beginning.
He has nothing,
thus has nothing to lose.
What he desires is non-desire;
what he learns is to unlearn.
He simply reminds people
of who they have always been.
He cares about nothing but the Tao.
Thus he can care for all things.
― Lao Tzu