The Way of Gratitude by Galen Guengerich
The practice of Gratitude is a wondrous way shower for the miracle, beauty, and bounty of this life privilege. The author of this book was a former Mennonite in the bucolic farming range of Pennsylvania. He left this rigorous religious way of life in his mid-twenties, because he “didn’t want to live with my eyes closed and my mind made up.” He sensed a greater realization of life’s wonders, mysteries, and choices awaited his openness and willingness to live the Dream of a more enriching and joyful life.
Galen profoundly illustrates how our openness to whatever life delivers for us is integral to discovering how all our choices, mistakes, successes, surprises, strengths, and weaknesses are the perfect building blocks for our evolution as an integral contribution for the community and the planet. When we choose to see all that unfolds as an opportunity for gratitude, life’s lessons are worthy of humble thanks, which wondrously open the door to a depth of ever-evolving fulfillment and connection with others.
Allowing for a daily practice of gratitude in your morning meditation, reflection, or prayer is a ticket for revealing life purpose and meaning specific to your individual presence as a unique human being. Life is a perennial work in progress, and so too is our practice of appreciation for all daily meetings, occurrences, and scenarios. Thus, we may render the veil of deluded reaction and realize the heart power of intentional response to life’s array of possibilities.
A reminder of the sacredness of each day’s opportunities for gratitude is aptly acknowledged as follows:
“Putting things off is the biggest waste of life. It snatches away each day as it comes and denies us the present by promising the future. The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today. You are arranging what lies in Fortune’s control and abandoning what lies in yours. What are you looking at? To what goal are you straining? The whole future lies in uncertainty; live immediately!” SENECA, 4 B.C.E.—65 C.E.
