I wrote my mom today. We have a custom of ending our letters with a "gratitude" section and a "prayer" section. I felt moved to share today's offering with you.
Background note:
My dad, a WWII marine vet who served in the Pacific theater, died in 1997. Among the many flowers given to our family was a sweet little gloxinia plant. For those who may not know, a gloxinia is kind of like an African violet. It has fuzzy leaves and beautiful blooms. The blooms of the gloxinia, however are much larger and more goblet in shape than the African violets. I fell in love with this plant. During my grief process this simple little plant gave me so much comfort. I was thrilled when it survived and bloomed the years following the funeral.
Over the last several days our Christmas cactus has been blooming like mad! It has been especially pretty because it shares a pot with that gloxinia plant. That silly gloxinia has been blooming too! I just love that gloxinia. We have said grace over it at least 3 times and each time, I dont know how, it sends out a new shoot and comes back in full glory.
Following are the "gratitude" and "prayer" sections from today's letter.
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Gratitude:
I've been so grateful for that funny little gloxinia plant. It is so beautiful, and has really lifted my spirits so much when it has demonstrated its hardiness. I'm grateful to whoever it was that sent it to us. It has been a little gift that has kept on giving!
I thank God for the beautiful Christmas cactus and the other flower blooms. What a terrific thing it is to have some gorgeous color at this time of year. Because the weather has been relatively mild, we have also had some magnificent last-minute rose blooms as well.
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Prayer
Beloved Merciful Father,
We thank you for the plants which bloom not only in the spring, but also in the summer and fall. We thank you for their colorful faces for they are the reflection of your own dear Face. Help us to also be blooms on the Tree of Life, and to be your Face for those who are in a winter of life and need some comfort and cheerful color.
Father, bless and keep all your children. Heal and comfort those who struggle for life, especially little babies and children. Heal and comfort those who are parents and who sometimes are immersed in stresses which are so burdensome and draining. Lift them up, and restore them to a place of joy and peace. We call for the binding and shattering of all opposition to the lives of those whose time has not come to return home, but who are in danger of leaving us early because of evil designs on them. Let only your Will be done in their lives. Father, enfold and encourage those whom you are calling and are poised to return Home to you. Help us to live our lives each day in harmony and peace. In the midst of storm, let us be calm, in the midst of attacks on us, let us be self-confident and faithful. In the midst of grief, let us have joy. Father, guide our every waking moment and remind us to push aside the distractions which keep us from focusing on your quiet voice.
Father, this is the season of harvest and Thanksgiving. We are grateful for our families and our friends. We are grateful for the abundance and the many blessings you have given us. We are grateful for the previous generations who have handed to us this land and system of government. Help us to be good stewards of Freedom so that we may hand over the keys to the next generation with them finding that all is intact.
We remember this day those who have paid the price for those freedoms which are truly not free. We remember those who have laid their bodies down on the battlefields of the world in the name of Freedom. We remember those who have lost limbs, health, and peace in the name of Freedom. For those who remain burdened by the records of their experiences in war, heal them and grant them peace and freedom from those burdens. We remember those who have come home safely and have lived their lives in honor, serving our nation and Freedom by raising children, working their businesses, and supporting their communities and places of worship. Father, we thank you for all of these servants of Freedom and ask that you will somehow reach into their hearts and let them know directly that we ARE grateful for their sacrifices.
We remember today our young men and women who are paying this generation's price for the defense of Freedom. Father, they are flung all over the globe. Some of them may not be getting care packages or letters. Convey to them, Father, somehow, the gratitude we feel. Guide us each one as to what small thing we can do to support these precious troops, whether it is a special prayer for them each day, or a letter, or a care package, or some other assignment you may give. Help us to hear that assignment and to have the will and determination to fulfill it.
Father, we are so very grateful for so many things this day. Let this gratitude we feel cover the earth and disrupt all hate and hate creation. Let gratitude dissolve the darkness covering the Middle East. Let gratitude reach the hearts of misguided youth who are being lied to and encouraged to commit those murder suicides. Let gratitude dissolve the dark plans for misuses of weapons of mass destruction in China, Korea, the Middle East and elsewhere. Let gratitude be the leaven of an intensification of your Divine Love throughout the earth so that we may see the turning back of dire prophecies and disasters as foretold by many. Let our hearts be so overflowing with gratitude for the smallest and the largest things that it will make the difference in the preservation of Freedom and Light in this nation and throughout the earth.
Father, we ARE so grateful and we do rededicate ourselves to Gratitude in this Thanksgiving Season!
Amen
MAY ALL OF YOU HAVE A VERY BLESSED THANKSGIVING FILLED TO OVERFLOWING WITH JOY, HAPPINESS, AND THAT INTENSIFICATION OF GOD'S LOVE KNOWN TO US AS "GRATITUDE."