I try to keep a gratitude journal

I try to keep a gratitude journal

every morning remembering the wisdom of that accidental saint, Michael J Fox, that gratitude sustains optimism and I’m in need of sustenance. This morning I listed blue sky, sun in my eyes, fragrance of lilacs, creaking knees that take me another 10,000 steps, amber latte sweet and bitter …. but then I stumbled to find thanks for a lot of other realities simmering in me.

I found these blessings by David Zahl and added a few of my own. Maybe they will encourage you too as we stumble into being beatitudes in a world filled with lilacs and longing:

Blessed are those whose lives don’t add up, for they will be released from

the tyranny of score-keeping.

Blessed are those who have stopped defending themselves, for they really will find better things to do.

Blessed are those whose certainties have been stripped away, renewing

their confusion, which is, after all, the mother of curiosity.

Blessed are the humble and the humiliated, for they have been relieved of

the burden of self-righteousness, which is the great enemy of love.

Blessed are the heartbroken, for cracks are where the light gets in.

Blessed are the addicts and alcoholics for they will know they can’t set themselves free.

Blessed are those for whom death is not a metaphor, for they have been

returned to reality, which is the dwelling place of God.

Blessed are those who cannot abide another funeral, for they have loved

deeply.

Blessed are those who can’t seem to move on from loss, for they will not look to

themselves for consolation.

Blessed are the left behind and the overlooked the delivery guy who refuses to make eye contact and the senior citizen who hasn’t received a visitor in months for they are seen by God, whose gaze restores dignity

and stature.

Blessed are those for whom life feels like an ordeal, for Jesus surrounded

himself with people like these. Blessed are those whose fears and anxieties exceed the reach of their

coping mechanisms, for only those in need of help will be helped.

Blessed are those who yearn for the world to be put to rights, for that

yearning is a form of hope.

Blessed are the cursed out and the cancelled, especially for reasons of their

own making, for they will be quick to listen and slow to judge.

Blessed are those who don’t condemn their sibling for not making better choices, because there but for the grace of God go they (and may yet still

go).

Blessed are the forgivers, because at the end of the day, as Saint Dolly

Parton tells us, what else is there? Blessed are they who hear that they are forgiven, for they have nothing to lose.

Sharon is a licensed professional counselor, author, and sought-after speaker for conferences, retreats, seminars, classes, trainings, or workshops.
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