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How brief
is our span of life
compared with the time since You created the universe. How
tiny we are compared with the enormity of Your universe. How
trivial are our concerns compared with the complexity of Your
universe. How stupid we are compared with the genius of Your
creation.
Yet during every minute and
every second of our lives You are present, within and around
us. You give Your attention to each and every one of us. Our
concerns are Your concerns. And You are infinitely patient
with our stupidity. I thank You with all my heart—knowing
that my thanks are worthless compared to Your greatness.
—San
Fulberto of Chartres (960-1028)
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If
you woke up this morning
with more health than illness, you are more blessed than
the millions who will not survive this week.
If you have never experienced
the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment,
or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 900 million
people in the world.
If you have food in the
refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and
a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the
bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace,
you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.
If you can read this message,
you are more blessed than over two billion people in the
world who cannot read at all.
If you hold up your head
with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you
are blessed because the majority can, but most do not. |
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Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received.
Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that
feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.
—Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933)
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How do you view each moment?
Don’t
fall into the trap of “waiting.” The present moment
is God’s gift to you: When you’re put on hold, or
are stuck in traffic, free your spirit to give thanks for
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your
life, and for the beauty of creation.
Once, frazzled after a long
day of travel, I stood in a hot, crowded train station and
was suddenly struck with wonder that all the people around
me, like myself, had been created with souls and for a purpose.
My irritable restlessness turned to joy.
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—Kathleen
Norris (Guideposts Online)
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