Counting Our Blessings: A Spiritual Practice
As we transition into the Thanksgiving to Christmas time of year, demonstrating gratitude and appreciation despite tragedy and pain can uplift our spirits.
Everyone reading this message is familiar with loss. I think of friends who have lost parents and other kin and friends during the pandemic. For many, this holiday season will be bittersweet, if sweet at all. Yet and still, this period will be the first time that many of us are gathering with more than a handful of friends and family in nearly two years.
I’m grateful for life, for my wife and daughter, for my parents, for my friends and co-workers in the kingdom of culture. I appreciate the energy, time and knowledge of those with whom Jewel and I have collaborated as well as the folks we have provided services for in 2021, which became a singular year of growth for our enterprises.
I’m grateful for the gift of music, which sustains me and stokes my creativity.
I appreciate having good neighbors of many backgrounds: Polish, Mexican, Jamaican, and a wonderful gay couple who are raising several beautiful adopted children. I’m also grateful for the workers we call on to help us keep our house and lawn in good shape.
I honor my alma mater Hamilton College, and the network of alumni, some of whom are very close friends and advocates.
I’m grateful for the ever-increasing opportunity to share ideas and perspectives that have enriched my life, and that I hope will enrich the lives of others.
Counting our blessings isn’t a denial of of how messed up things are in the world; rather, it’s a spiritual practice that centers us in gratitude for the sake of ourselves and those around us.
In this holiday season, we invite you to count your blessings. We’re taking this coming Friday off, so you can expect another post a week from today.