Gratitude

For the bewildering mystery of being alive
     I am grateful!
For this amazing communion of saints that is
     my body, how it all works—thank you!
     (Even when it is awkward, or ill: gratitude!)
For this stupendous planet, cornucopia of life,
     teeming with beauty and strangeness,
     wrapping me in its flow of giving and receiving: thanks!
For the people who have helped shape me,
     given me gifts, walked the road with me—
     even unknowing, even by accident—gratitude!
For what I can do, and the faith to do it, thank you!
For light (so splendid!) and sound (how wonderful!)
     for how gravity works no matter what (wow!),
     for the sense of touch (and humor): thank you!
For music in the world and in my heard, gratitude!
For all my struggles (for if I am wrestling, I do so
     with angels)—I am grateful.
For the lives of people I miss, dear ones even now
     on the threshold of death, gratitude.
For the little green frogs in my yard, and
     the great blue heron who wants to eat them: thank you!
For your absolutely consistent grace, your delight in it all,
     your love beyond imagining, I thank you!
I ask only for the gift of undying gratitude,
    in all things—welcome or not, pleasant or hard—
    in all things, in every moment: gratitude.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net