November 28

GRATITUDE MONTH: DAY 28: “If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”― Meister Eckhart

The easiest and best of all the gratitude quotes, I think. Because we go around and around about praying for things, for specific outcomes, for selfish and arrogant things. I think this is the most concise and perfect prayer we can ever say. I sing the song from Allene every day, sometimes over and over. It is the perfect way for me to express what I get all the time.

An awareness that I am NOT the source of anything good in my life is an absolute necessity. It is ALL grace, and the more I know this, the happier I am. I feel rich and blessed and loved all the time. That is the manifestation, for me, of all 12 steps.

Step 11 is a great one! We have so much to acknowledge, and yet, most of the people I know are over-whelmed and completely ungracious about their lives, wanting “something more” all the time. Whether they complain about their health, their financial status, or whatever their daily list of wants is. That is really sad, because they have failed to do the most important thing with the moments and hours and days and weeks and months and years of their lives…to actually just BE and just LIVE them!

Gratitude puts us in the place where we are Ego-less and human. We are humble and just the right size to remain teachable and worthy of Grace.

It is hard to receive Grace when you have some arrogant idea of whether or not you are worthy. That is false humility and truly Ego-ful. We cannot receive when we are filled with Self. We cannot receive when we are running the show. We are “too busy” and “too tired” to have gratitude or grace. How sad!

Just remembering that nothing we are and nothing we do and nothing we possess truly came from us is a great place to sit. Then, every moment of life is a gift…every single moment. Whether our ego believes it is good or bad, right or wrong, fair or unfair, it is ALL a gift. Being grateful is the reason for this day. See if you can spend it in true gratitude for everything, whether you want it or not and whether you like it or not. Does not matter, because we are the ones who are truly clueless about what Grace is and how it is supposed to appear. Happy Thanksgiving to all us turkeys!