The Gift That Keeps On Giving
When we look at our lives through the lens of gratitude,
our blessings gain in stature and depth;
they rise to the top and prompt us to consider new meaning in our lives.
-The Miracle Collectors
June is a month of celebrations - weddings, graduations, and the beginning of summer - a good time for a mid-year pause to reflect on all that we have to feel grateful for. As Katie writes in this month's blog, an attitude of gratitude is a gift that keeps on giving. We hope wherever you are, you find time to appreciate special connections and the beauty that can be uncovered just about anywhere.
Collecting Miracle Moments One Story at a Time.
Joan and Katie
I keep a gratitude journal. Sometimes I allow months to go by with no entries, though there is plenty to say; other times my entries are a daily prayer of sorts to remember the good things, especially in hard times. Life includes worry, illness, disappointment, loneliness and loss for all of us at one time or another. Practicing gratitude is an intentional shift in focus and perception, an insistence on capturing moments of wonder, connection, love, and humor that would get forgotten otherwise. When I think about it, and I’m not sure why this is, it’s easier to remember the tough times. No need to write them down. Victor Frankl famously said choosing one’s attitude is “the last of the the human freedoms…to choose one’s own way.” When we notice and appreciate the nuggets of grace that come our way, we gain perspective on our circumstances.
Sometimes gratitude is collective and so big it lasts for generations. There is a small town in Normandy, Ste.-Mère-Église, recently in the news for the 80th commemoration of D-Day. The town was the first to be liberated by American soldiers on June 6, 1944; the soldiers continued to protect the town in the months to come as there was fear the Germans would retake the area. With only 1300 residents, the townsfolk took it upon themselves to dig the graves of 13,000 of the soldiers who died that day – the magnitude of the sacrifice was not lost on them. Every year since, they have celebrated American veterans, hosting them in their homes where American flags hang from chimneys and windows. While there are more formal commemorations of D-Day in bigger towns, Ste.-Mère-Église, now population 3000, hosted 6 parades, 10 ceremonies, 11 concerts, and a paratrooper jump. Stories of heroism, sacrifice, and lifelong friendships have been passed down to grandchildren and great grandchildren who continue to revere Americans for what they did so long ago.
When we see life in a particular light, gratitude is contagious, as it is for the people of Ste.-Mère-Église, elevating appreciation to a new level and keeping it alive across the generations. It reminds me of something G. K. Chesterton said, “Happiness is gratitude doubled by wonder.” In the ordinary days of our lives, we have not been liberated from tyranny, and gratitude requires more attention to detail. At the end of the day when I remember to take pen in hand and open up my journal, invariably I recall something small – like when Finn, the youngest of my grandsons, stopped in the middle of the hallway as we were leaving, opened his back pack and retrieved some art work, “it’s a rocket I drew and I’d like you to have it.” – a moment that in a few weeks would have been forgotten, running into the details of the busyness of life. A small, perhaps insignificant moment in the scheme of things, but when added together with all the other small moments, it’s everything that matters. (Katie)