Writing in Snow

Thankful Thursday: Questions abourt Gratitude

Istijlál (Majesty), 13 Jamál (Beauty) 175 B.E. - Thursday, May 10, 2018

"Reflect, O people, on the grace and blessings of your Lord, and yield Him thanks at eventide and dawn."
Baha’u’llah1

The title of "Spiritual Newsletter (May 9, 2018)"  is "In Gratitude". In it the editor Shannon ask three questions: (1) How have you been blessed? (2) Do you keep a gratitude journal? and What are you thankful for? Today, May 10, I can answer the "How have you been blessed?" question easily enough because I have, at least, nine blessing to list. I know I usually list ten blessing, however, some of those blessing are repeats from week to week, and today I want to list new blessings or blessing I do not list often.

How Have I Been Blessed?
What am I thankful for?

1. This morning I wrote the poem "Thankful Thursday: Gratitude for Life"  in "Melting Snow" .
2. Internet access and the ability to pay for it. This morning this is especially important because of the clash between Israel, Syria, and Iran. I checked the location of the Golan Heights in relation to the location of the Baha'i Holy Place in Israel (they are located in the area around Mount Carmel, Haifa, and Akko). That gave me some relief; however, I'm still worried about my Baha'i brothers and sister in Syria and Iran.
3. The Baha'i prayer app on my smartphone, this lets me stop whatever I'm doing and say a prayer for the protection of my family in faith across the planet.

Every morning and evening, I express by gratitude to God. Usually it just pausing a moment to whisper a prayer of thanks or to intone the Most Great Name. In the morning, I chant the Most Great Name, and this starts my day off right. If I oversleep, which I sometimes do, I wait until I'm alone in the house because I don't want any distractions when I intone God's name.

How Have I Been Blessed?
What am I thankful for?

4. The Baha'i sacred scripture which inspire both my blog entries and my poetry. This morning I wrote two poem about gratitude. One I have already mentioned, and the other I wrote and posted in "Snow Scribbles" . It is "Gratitude at Sunrise and Sunset" .
5. Fish tacos! Today I had fish tacos for lunch, they were delicious. I love eating tacos, especially types I've never had before. I memory serves me right, this is the first time I've had fish tacos. I'm planning on having them again.
6. Coffee, which is something I put on my gratitude list every week. I usually take my coffee black, except when I want chocolate. At those time I put hot chocolate mix in my coffee.

Do I keep a gratitude journal? I don't keep a daily gratitude journal any more, because when I did I usually listed the same ten things over and over. After experimenting with this type of journal, I decided on a Thankful Thursday Gratitude list. Making a gratitude list once a week gives me a chance to review the last six or seven days to see what stood out. I usually list ten items; however, today is a little different because I've already written two gratitude poems plus this entry.

How Have I Been Blessed?
What am I thankful for?

7. A working air conditioner and the ability to pay the power bill. This week we're expecting the first triple digit day in Las Vegas (we could have already had it). Air conditioning is important, but the issue is always paying the power bills.
8. The conversation about God, I had with the gentleman I ask to move off of my front stoop this morning. I know I'm going to get some type of story or poem out of that, after it percolates in my subconscious for a while.
9. Living in Las Vegas. This is one of the most intriguing, interesting, and (sometimes) weird cities in the United States. I meet the most interesting, unusual, funny, and (sometimes) frightening people around.

Footnotes
1  The Most Holy Book, p. 30.