"If we pray, we will believe; 

If we believe, we will love; 

If we love, we will serve."

My life is filled with Gratitude...and on those days I feel a little "off kilter" or "out of sorts" ...let's face it even on the days i feel agitated, annoyed and pissed off (thankfully their few and far between) I can easily turn it around by listing the things for which I am grateful.  If the feeling hangs on a bit, I stop and write out the gratitude list and then begin writing one in the evening before I go to bed and in the morning when I wake up.  A few days of gratitude and whatever appeared to be upsetting literally disappears!

Most recently I have discovered that the most common source of upset for me is the idea that I might not be good enough.  I usually deflect this idea onto situations or other people making them WRONG for putting me in THIS position.  So along with gratitude I can also claim my Higher Power's view of me...which is just how I was made...Whole, Complete in Every Way, Magnificent, Beautiful, Extraordinary, and down right FABULOUS!

And my days go exceptionally well when I wake up and remember, consciously remember, "THIS DAY is a GIFT!  I have this one, this special one to create any way I wish and I choose JOY!"

Blessed Be and Namaste,

Lawrence

God grant me the SERENITY 

to accept the things I cannot change,

COURAGE to change the things I can 

and the WISDOM to know the difference.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Marianne Williamson

While having the joy and honor of working with the Marionites of Holy Angels on the Bywater Project I have been moved and inspired repeatedly.  At this years Thanksgiving gathering and Awards night I was once again touched by things that were said and inspired by the following prayer:

PRAYER OF GRATITUDE

I walk in thanksgiving, for the sunlit years of childhood, for warm winds and singing birds, for laughter and discovery and the gift of wonder, and because I walk in thanksgiving, I WALK IN BELIEF.

I walk in thanksgiving, for the years of growing awareness of life, of my own self as one among many selves, fashioning my strength reaching out and up, for the experience of growth through uncertainty, the risk of life, of love, of liberty... and because I walk in thanksgiving, I WALK IN TRUST.

I walk in thanksgiving, for your friendship and the gift of prayer, for the splendor of autumn and the rocky peaks, for music and poetry and the song of the world, for the intensity of life, for challenges and delight...and because I walk in thanksgiving, I WALK IN JOY.

I walk in thanksgiving, for life that comes not as a whole, but in little pieces called people; for tenderness and strength, for gentleness and warmth, for weakness and pain, for laughter and courage, for the risk of life, and because I walk in thanksgiving, I WALK IN LOVE.

I WALK IN THANKSGIVING, for faith and hope, for joy and love, and because I walk in thanksgiving, I WALK IN GOD.

The Sacred Seven Prayers

O Great Spirit, who art before all else and who dwells in every object, in every person and in every place, we cry unto Thee. We summon Thee from the far places into our present awareness. 

O Great Spirit of the North, who gives wings to the waters of the air and rolls the thick snowstorm before Thee, Who covers the Earth with a sparkling crystal carpet above whose deep tranquility every sound is beautiful. Temper us with strength to withstand the biting blizzards, yet make us thankful for the beauty which follows and lies deep over the warm Earth in its wake.

O Great Spirit of the East, the land of the rising Sun, Who holds in Your right hand the years of our lives and in Your left the opportunities of each day. Brace us that we may not neglect our gifts nor lose in laziness the hopes of each day and the hopes of each year.

O Great Spirit of the South, whose warm breath of compassion melts the ice that gathers round our hearts, whose fragrance speaks of distant springs and summer days, dissolve our fears, melt our hatreds, kindle our love into flames of true and living realities. Teach us that he who is truly strong is also kind, he who is wise tempers justice with mercy, he who is truly brave matches courage with compassion.

O Great Spirit of the West, the land of the setting Sun, with Your soaring mountains and free, wide rolling prairies, bless us with knowledge of the peace which follows purity of striving and the freedom which follows like a flowing robe in the winds of a well-disciplined life. Teach us that the end is better than the beginning and that the setting sun glorifies not in vain.

O Great Spirit of the heavens, in the day's infinite blue and amid the countless stars of the night season, remind us that you are vast, that you are beautiful and majestic beyond all of our knowing or telling, but also that you are no further from us than the tilting upwards of our heads and the raising of our eyes.

O Great Spirit of Mother Earth beneath our feet, Master of metals, Germinator of seeds and the Storer of the Earth's unreckoned resources, help us to give thanks unceasingly for Your present bounty.

O Great Spirit of our souls, burning in our heart's yearning and in our innermost aspirations, speak to us now and always so that we may be aware of the greatness and goodness of Your gift of life and be worthy of this priceless privilege of living.