In Gratitude
In Gratitude
I experience such an uplifting feeling of promise this time of year. During that space when winter has blown through the last of its season and spring shows up at its most delicious, I almost hold my breath. It’s such a tender time – of wonder, thankfulness, reflection and renewal. Light-filled days are pregnant with new possibilities, while gentle, softer breezes warm our walks and the gorgeous riot of new color play together across our landscapes. Mother Earth in our part of the world delivers her gifts beautifully and passionately – a gracious reminder of her forever turning . . . and our forever desire to start again with the new, to wonder how we’ve done and what’s next, and to be grateful to those who’ve enriched our lives with their service, hospitality, generosity and love.
It’s the Easter, Mother’s Day, graduation and moving-on time of year. It’s the “let’s find the time to get out in the yard,” the “there are two more parties to get to this week,” and the “I need to buy one more card” time of year. It’s the gearing up and running faster time of year. It’s the exhausting – but with a smile – time of year. And, it’s a time of year when all the glory of the new can easily distract me from reflecting on and thanking what’s bygone – the lives and gifts of family and friends experienced in this world. So, as well as forcing myself to carve out meditation time on a spring morning, I sometimes turn to the calm reverie of music.
Just lately I ran across one of my favorite pieces of music and promised myself that I would find a time to share it with you. With graduations, Mother’s Day and blooming gardens all around us, it seems a perfect time to send it on. It’s Bobby McFerrin’s feminine rendition of a well-known sacred passage – The 23rd Psalm. The sense of gracious thankfulness is age-old; the message, simple and poignant; and the music, both elegant and eloquent.
Grab yourself a ten-minute break for reflection and gratitude. Settle back in a comfortable spot, hit the play arrow and put it on full screen. Let the music and visuals wash over your heart and speak to your soul; let them remind you that even though we may be running within a never-ending variety of interesting, sometimes dangerous, distracting and intersecting circles, we are all, together, a part of this greater picture where beauty, grace and love abide.
Jane
