Lent 9: Gratitude Edition

This morning as I searched through my Instagram feed to see how long I'd been sharing #morningverses (it's been since late November), I found a post I'd shared from my friend @yogirev (she's a pastor! and a yogini!).  It was the following image:

As it happens, I was still in bed at that time. These days I may stay in bed while saying morning prayer (which I've been doing using Celtic Daily Prayer, which is lovely, though the Celts seem not to have gotten the memo on gender inclusive language At All). I also often send those morning verses from bed. I like reading the lessons of the daily lectionary first thing... scanning them, really, for what feels like the word of scripture which both speaks to me and which I want to share.

But here I was in bed, and I thought, well, I will do these five things.

To my delight, the gratitude portion went on for some time.

I notice on Sundays when we share concerns and joys (and we do them in that order, on purpose, so that joy has the last word), some days the joys feel less robust than the concerns. And I do get that. In my own prayers, I usually start with that tight circle of people around me--my partner, my children, my family, my friends, and so forth. By the time I get to that widest circle-- my nation, the world, I sort of mentally and spiritually throw up my hands, saying something like, "Help. Just help. I don't need to spell it out to you. Help. Please." And we don't even have to get to the Big Picture to be overwhelmed. The people we love who are sick or dying, the people we care about who are stressed or suffering, we ourselves, our own concerns... By the time the pastor says, "Do you have joys to share?" I think we can be sitting there feeling swamped. "All your waves and your billows have passed over me." Life preserver, please!

But this morning, starting with joys, I realized that I have them in abundance. Abundance.

• A night in which I actually slept lying down and not propped up-- for a few hours, anyway!

• A sweet partner who responded to my declaring I was having a honey emergency-- all out!!!-- by dropping by with not one, not two, but three jars of delicious, local honey.

• Two grown up kids who I really love and really like, and who both really love and really like me.

• Work I find absolutely life-giving and joy-filled, with people I love.

• Those same people I love encouraging me, praying for me, and insisting that I have the time I need to get well from #flu2018, and who send me funny, encouraging, and loving texts.

• The best friends and colleagues, near and far.

• Faith, hope, and love.

• "Scandal" and "How to Get Away With Murder" streaming online. (Just keeping it real.)

• The best tea. And honey.

I could go on. And I plan to.

I will add to my list:

• The list of "5 Things to Do...", which helped me to begin my day wrapped in gratitude and joy.