It's that time of year when we all may stop a moment and reflect on what we are thankful for throughout our lives and, perhaps more specifically, within the last year. How coincidental then that we address the practice of gratitude in Spiritual Disciplines class this week? Probably not very.
I try to be grateful to many things in my life, but sometimes I wonder if I am not intentional enough about it. Is it simple enough to be grateful for the big things in my life? I could list them with ease: my wife, my family, my friends, my health, my apartment, my car. We can be grateful for these things because they are the easy things to point to, and sometimes consider the process finished.
Ah, but it cannot be so. We are where we are based on every moment that his come before us, in our own history and in our past generations. So, if we are grateful for where we are, and we are grateful for where we are going, we cannot extend that gratitude without considering all that has brought us here, for good or for ill.
That said, I am grateful for the down moments that make me appreciate the good ones. I am grateful for uprooting myself so many times in my life, leaving so much behind but establishing myself anew again. I'm grateful for all those failed attempts at relationships, learning from them to make this one count. I am grateful for all those years the Giants didn't win, and all of those close calls, for how else could the joy of winning the World Series mean so much to millions of people, including me? I am grateful for five and a half years of working at Walmart, some times much more trying than others, which led me to find what may be my true calling in life.
But I am also grateful for the good things: soccer Fridays, sunrise walks, realism in movies, late night chats, long roadtrips, piano driven rock and roll, Golden Gate Park, falling snow, and so much more.
And the Giants. Of all the things that put a smile on my face in the morning, they're pretty near the top right now.
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