The Power of Gratitude

 Of course, this is Thanksgiving week and we are reminded to be grateful for everything in our lives.  That includes the good and the not so good.  I have a dear friend who believes that nothing is either good or bad.  He believes, it is just the lessons we are hear to learn in this lifetime.

The Universe brings the people and events we need to learn the lessons we came here to learn.  Some believe that we signed up for these lessons, these people and these events before we came in to being in this lifetime.  Each of us can choose to believe that or not.  

I've told many people that as I've gotten older, I see the beautiful tapestry of my life.  How the events and people who have passed through my life have made me who I am today...and I am grateful for each person and event that has happened along the way.

Today I received a meditation from Richard Rogers regarding gratitude.  He is an incredible Unity Minister that sends out a free meditation every week.  Here is a link to his meditation this week and another link to his web site in case you want to sign up to receive his meditations.

Graditude Medation 11/22/22 (10 minutes) by Richard Rogers

Richard Rogers website to sign up for his free weekly audio meditations 

Many people use the following practice daily to help them remember the things for which they are grateful..

Begin and End Each Day with Gratitude

Another dear friend has been given the opportunity in her life to stand up to the challenge of a painful neurological condition which causes facial pain.  I have learned that more people have this condition then we even know.  It is one of the many conditions that does not appear as a typical disability and has few if any outward symptoms.  She told me the first step to lessen the frequency of these painful attacks was writing down what she is grateful for everyday.  She is on the path to become a Unity minister and I'm sure she also used denials and affirmative prayer as some of her tools.   Not to deny the existence of disease or condition but to deny that it has any power over her and to be grateful for all the lessons it has taught her.

Remember this quote by Meister Eckhart.

 

 

May each and everyone have a grateful, joyous, peaceful, and abundantly blessed, Thanksgiving and beyond with people you care about and who care about you.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and peace on earth.

What's in Your Spiritual Tool Box?

The first talk our new minister Rev. Gary gave when he arrived at Unity of New Braunfels was about his spiritual tools.  He even had a toolbox on the platform and pulled things out of this box to demonstrate many of the tools and practices he uses to help us all begin to think about and look at our own spiritual tools and practices.

In this article Unity offers Spiritual Tools and Practices including Affirmative Prayer, Forgiveness and Mediation among other things.  There are links on this page to many tools and practices.   

https://www.unity.org/resources/practices

This artcle from the Huffington Post What's In Your Spiritual Toolbox was also thought provoking.

Here is a link to a video about Spiritual Practices from Fr. Richard Rohr and the Center for Action and Contemplation which he started.  The video focuses on the Spiritual Practices and how to find them in their daily meditations and weekly summaries.  I have found the Practice section in their weekly summaries to be useful and thought provoking.

Practice-Based Spirituality: Beyond Belief

This will give you things to ponder about your own spiritual toolbox or spiritual practices. May you find new insights and paths forward from your inquiry and your findings.

Abundant blessings, joy, peace and good healthy to all!