An Endless List

Back in 2013 I started keeping what I have come to call a "Gratitude Journal."  The inspiration came from an author named Ann Voskamp who wrote a book about her year long journey with the 1000 entries she made in the first year.  I must confess to not being as good a journal keeper as she has proven herself to be, but I still plod on with my pen hoping one day to reach that point when I write the entry marked 1000.  While I hope it not an excuse for simply tolerating an undisciplined spirit, I do still maintain that the journey is more important than the arrival so I persist in plodding forward ever so slowly.    

What I have discovered through the process is a raised consciousness.  Things that would have simply come and gone unnoticed are more likely to become opportunities for whispering a word of gratitude even though the moment may not make it to the journal.  It has been as if I have been walking with eyes open when once they were closed.  Or, to use a Biblical image, not having eyes to see.    

There is so much for which to be thankful.  It is that way with all of us.  None of the dark clouds which weigh down so heavily upon us can take away the awareness that we are not alone and that we are not without the blessings which come to us through the grace of God.  As our hearts grow toward being more grateful, we find ourselves coveting with gratitude a brief conversation with a stranger, or the smell of food cooking in the house, or the gentle touch of someone we love.  It is an endless list, is it not, which makes me wonder in the moment why I have had so much trouble writing down a list of 1000 in all these years!