{"id":2510,"date":"2007-12-01T17:31:00","date_gmt":"2007-12-01T15:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/juno-magic.fancrone.net\/blog\/2007\/12\/01\/gratitude"},"modified":"2009-01-18T15:21:52","modified_gmt":"2009-01-18T14:21:52","slug":"gratitude","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/juno-magic.fancrone.net\/blog\/2007\/12\/01\/gratitude","title":{"rendered":"Gratitude"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\"Gratitude\"“Winds” by Teresa Stanton “T”,
\nCreative Commons “Attribution” licence at Flickr. <\/font><\/center><\/p>\n

“To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.”<\/p>\n

– Albert Schweitzer<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Letter to a Friend<\/b><\/p>\n

I am your friend
\nand my love for you goes deep.
\nThere is nothing I can give you
\nwhich you have not have:
\nbut there is much, very much
\nthat while I cannot give it,
\nyou can take.<\/p>\n

No heaven can come to us
\nunless our hearts find rest
\nin today. Take heaven!
\nNo peace lies in the future
\nwhich is not hidden
\nin this present little instant.
\nTake peace!<\/p>\n

The gloom of the world is but a shadow.
\nBehind it, yet within reach, is joy.
\nThere is radiance and glory
\nin the darkness, could we but see,
\nand to see we have only to look.
\nI beseech you to look!<\/p>\n

Life is so generous a giver,
\nbut we, judging its gifts by
\nthe covering, cast them away
\nas ugly, or heavy or hard.
\nRemove the covering and
\nyou will find beneath it
\na living splendor,
\nwoven of love,
\nby wisdom, with power.<\/p>\n

Welcome it, grasp it,
\ntouch the angel’s hand
\nthat brings it to you.
\nEverything we call a trial,
\na sorrow, or a duty, believe me,
\nthat angel’s hand is there,
\nthe gift is there, and the wonder
\nof an overshadowing presence.
\nOur joys, too, be not
\ncontent with them as joys.
\nThey, too, conceal diviner gifts.<\/p>\n

Life is so full of meaning and purpose,
\nso full of beauty,
\nbeneath its covering\u00e2\u20ac\u201d
\nthat you will find earth
\nbut cloaks your heaven.<\/p>\n

Courage, then, to claim it, that is all.
\nBut courage you have,
\nand the knowledge that
\nwe are all pilgrims together,
\nwending through unknown country, home.<\/p>\n

And so, at this time, I greet you,
\nnot quite as the world sends greetings,
\nbut with profound esteem
\nand with the prayer that for you
\nnow and forever, the day breaks,
\nand the shadows flee away.<\/p>\n

Letter written by Fra Giovanni (1513)<\/a>
\n<\/font><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Gratitude<\/a>
\n(Click me! I am a song!)
\n<\/font>
\n“Gratitude”
\nby Eric Bibb<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\n

<\/lj-cut><\/p>\n

I have chosen “Gratitude” as the first virtue for various reasons. <\/p>\n

I find that when I’m stressed out and worried, I forget what is good and wonderful in my life. I forget all the things I can be grateful for. I become ungrateful, and as a result I get more and more annoyed and frustrated.<\/p>\n

When I take the time to remember what I am grateful for, I invariably discover that things aren’t all that bad.<\/p>\n

But most of all, I have picked “Gratitude” as the first virtue because I’m grateful for you<\/b>.<\/p>\n

I’m grateful beyond measure that you exist. That you are my friend. That I’ve had the pleasure to meet you online or offline or online and offline.<\/p>\n

Thank you very much. You make my life so much better.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Winds” by Teresa Stanton “T”, Creative Commons “Attribution” licence at Flickr. “To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":194,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[87,277],"class_list":["post-2510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-junomagic","tag-advent-calendar","tag-advent-calendar-2007"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/juno-magic.fancrone.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/juno-magic.fancrone.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/juno-magic.fancrone.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/juno-magic.fancrone.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/194"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/juno-magic.fancrone.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/juno-magic.fancrone.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2510\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/juno-magic.fancrone.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/juno-magic.fancrone.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/juno-magic.fancrone.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}