With Thanksgiving just a few weeks away, we remember the practices of expressing and embodying gratitude. After all, the holiday is called Thanksgiving!
Sadly, most of us never think about gratitude until November. Life can be so much fuller when we learn to embody gratitude every day.
Pray Without Ceasing
I remember my Bible reading where 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-19 says: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
It stumped me: how can you pray without ceasing? But I didn’t take time to really think about the context of the verse: “Rejoice always … give thanks in all circumstances …” It was recently when I realized that gratitude is the element that ties everything together; gratitude changes everything!
If you have followed my articles over the years, you’ve read about how gratitude helped me through the aftermath of the fire that burned our home and everything in it. I have also written many articles on gratitude and starting a gratitude practice. Although having a practice is a good thing, I found that embodying gratitude in your daily life is praying without ceasing.
Gratitude is more than a practice. It is a way of being, a consciousness that we can all develop. Rev. Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith tells us: “Praying without ceasing means being receptive to and communing with the presence of God, the presence of Life. It’s a state of consciousness.”
How can we do this? Notice life around you, being present in the moment. In his talk last week, Rev. Joel Fotinos from CSL North Jersey said: “Right now, in this moment, everything is good.” But do we look at life like that?
In November SOM Magazine, Mary Davis writes:
Gratitude practice redirects our focus from what is going wrong to what is going right. It trains our hearts and minds to notice abundance instead of lack. It awakens our souls to the Divine source of the countless gifts in our lives. Our gratitude practice reminds us of the magnificent blessings that surround us daily. And it’s all right here, within our reach.
Embody your gratitude practice into a consciousness where you always express gratitude—praying without ceasing!