We’ve all seen the news. 💔
The horrific unfoldings that happened this week, and the images and reports surfacing from the Middle East leave a tremendous weight of heaviness.
To sit with this month’s theme in the midst of it all feels futile and cruel—how does one explore the soul work of gratitude when the world feels so haunted by hate?
But like a ray of light, breaking through the darkness, I stumbled upon a story of hope that reminded me (and I pray it reminds you, too) that one, small act of gratitude can ignite hearts of gratitude in us all.
Her name is Maya Alper.
Like thousands of other concert-goers attending the Tribe of Nova music festival, Maya was at the open event, near the Gaza border, to attend and celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
Shortly after dawn, however, she heard air raid sirens cut through the music as rockets blasted through the air.
Sprinting to her car and speeding toward the main road, she soon found herself in gridlock traffic as hundreds of panicked exiters all tried to escape in the same direction.
As she sat parked at a standstill, contemplating what to do next, she saw gunmen walking through the rows of cars shooting drivers mercilessly and without hesitation.
Abandoning her car, she beelined for a cluster of bushes and plunged into a tangle of shrubs. There, hiding as best as she could, she witnessed fellow strangers gunned down at point-blank range through a peephole of thorns.
For over six hours, Maya hid. And waited.
As Hamas militants continued to throw grenades and spray gunfire, and as she sometimes heard them speaking to one another right beside her, she hid; she breathed; she prayed — ”breathing and praying in every way I knew possible.”
As a devotee to yoga and meditation, Maya said, “Every time I thought of anger, or fear, or revenge, I breathed it out. I tried to think of what I was grateful for — the bush that hid me so well that even birds landed on it, the birds that were still singing, the sky that was so blue.”
Friends, as you explore your own soul work of gratitude today, do not get lost in the swirl of heaviness and hate for whatever the news, and/or your circumstances may be leading you to feel, rather, may you choose your “moments like Maya” instead.
Breathe.
Pray.
Practice gratitude.
—With Joy
Source: Israeli Survivors Recount Terror at Music Festival by Castanet News, October 9, 2023.
Pause for Prayer
“I join my voice with so many others to bring you thanks. Life under your canopy can be rich with music and laughter, food and friends, sunsets and seascapes, fulfilling worship with people we love. Every song of a lark, every scent of a flower, every touch of a child suggests your goodness. Every word of forgiveness or assurance expresses your grace. Thank you.”
Source: Specific Gratitude, How to Maximize Appreciation, by Scott Crabtree, via Happy Brain Science.
Pause for Practice
Gratitude has become a widely accepted practice providing a number of beneficial boosts for one’s overall sense of life satisfaction. But according to deeper research, studies show that stating what you’re specifically grateful for has a far greater impact on your psychological wellbeing than if your gratitude stays general and vague.
For example, instead of stating gratitude for fresh food in your cupboards and fridge, try specifying how you’re grateful for the way nutrient-rich vegetables nourish your body so your heart stays healthy and your life is optimized.
By connecting your act of gratitude to a personal and emotional benefit, you turn the practiced act into a moment of deep and lasting appreciation, rather than an obligatory habit.
As you spend a few moments today reflecting on something you’re grateful for, spend time exploring and elaborating on as many details as you can. Within this specified area of gratitude, what are all the benefits it provides your life?
Source: Specific Gratitude, How to Maximize Appreciation, by Scott Crabtree, via Happy Brain Science.
Pause for Blessing
In light of what is going on in the world, please use the following blessing to weep alongside those who weep, and to pray over those who grieve. Our boots may not be on the ground, but we can carry the plights of our fellow strangers in our hearts.
What I really want to tell you is to just lay this blessing on your forehead, on your heart; let it rest in the palm of your hand, because there is hardly anything this blessing could say, any word it could offer to fill the hollow.
Let this blessing work its way into you with its lines that hold nearly unspeakable lament.
Let this blessing settle into you with its hope more ancient than knowing.
Hear how this blessing has not come alone—how it echoes with the voices of those who accompany you, who attend you in every moment, who continually whisper this blessing to you.
Hear how they do not cease to walk with you, even when the dark is deepest.
Hear how they encompass you always—breathing this blessing to you, bearing this blessing to you still.
Source: The Cure for Sorrow — A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief, by Jan Richardson, Enduring Blessing, pp. 111-112.
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- Click here for previous month’s art offerings
P.S. It’s true when they say ‘life is a journey,’ but everyone can have a different take on that experience – ha!
