Thank You for these gifts...

It is Tuesday morning and it is a cold and wet one, perfect for introspection, writing and chores.

This week I have been dealing with some difficult and intimate issues that have taken my mind away from blogging, but due to the help and wisdom of family and friends I have been able to work my way through much of it.

Before I get into the subject of this post, I should preface my post with the comment that my blood tests (thankfully) have come back stable and that I don't have to return to the hematologist until August.

This Sunday I was watching The Hour of Power on TV which I enjoy doing from time to time, given my Catholic background and the absence of church on Sunday in my adult life. I especially enjoy watching Reverend Robert H. Schuller's son speak, and admire the way he has carried on his father’s ministry with such grace and elegance.

He was talking about prayer and our relationship with God.

In the beginning of learning how to pray he suggested, it is kind of like a child asking Santa Claus for gifts. Please give me this and give me that, etc.

But as we grow in faith, we begin to realize that everything that happens to us in life whether pleasant or unpleasant at first, is there to help us grow and develop as human and spiritual beings. And when we start to get this, our prayers change from prayers of supplication to prayers of thankfulness.

When things are hurting us, this element of thankfulness is very hard to get. So the beginnings of faith are an instruction to help us learn this difficult lesson.

When we were children and practicing Roman Catholics, we sat around the table as a family for meals and began each meal or almost every meal with a grace before meals:

Bless us O Lord and these Thy gifts,
which we are about to receive
from Thy Bounty through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

As children we didn’t always want to do this but it was rule of the home.

When my girls were young and especially after returning from India, where my Sufi teacher told me that I should return to the habit of attending Church on Sundays, I decided that it would be a good habit to adopt grace before meals.

I couldn’t bring myself to going back to the old habit of church on Sundays and putting my own children through a formal Christian education with all the dogma surrounding it but I realized the importance of faith and the giving of thanks. So I invented my own version:

Thank You for these gifts of earth,
Heaven sent and brought to birth,
keep us healthy in Your sight,
and sharing in Your Living Light, Amen.

We started most meals with this blessing, including meals with friends.

As the children grew older, began attending school and learning from their peers, they became more and more reluctant to participate in this family ritual which (especially if friends were present) became an embarrassment.

But as far as I was concerned and although I wished we could continue on in the innocence of our early family togetherness, the seed had been planted and must be allowed to grow in its own way and its own time.

Over the years I have continued this prayer though I have shortened it to the single line…

Thank You for these gifts...

And today I am reciting it with a deep and profound gratefulness and thanks for the support of my family and friends in helping me through this difficult week.

Along with all at work who have given me support this week I especially need to thank my sister Marilyn and all of my children who are turning out far wiser than their dad.