Want to catch you early, so tomorrow you can be with family, hopefully having a wonderful time.
I want to share with you a couple of reasons to make every day a day of Thanksgiving, as well as every meal.
This world we live in can sometimes be an intense place. It’s easy to get stressed – in fact, for most it’s harder to not be stressed, especially around the holidays.
As a community, we’ve been through a lot recently, with the loss of our guide, Sidi, and even more recently the loss of one of our beautiful beloveds, Nura Clara, in New York, whose funeral services were held today. Our prayers are with them both, and with their families.
At times of loss, we realize our own mortality. Our time in this physical realm is limited, and we have much to be grateful for while we’re here. Sometimes we need to force ourselves to look for the gratitude, to seek out the evidence of God’s love and mercy in our lives. This effort has many rewards.
I watched a motivational speaker on PBS years ago tell his story of going from homeless to prosperous. How did he do it? One day while he was living on the streets, he woke up with the idea to list as many things as he could think of to be grateful for. He decided to make this a daily practice.
Eventually, his days started unfolding differently. His spirit was lifted by the recounting of all the things he had to be grateful for in his life. Before long, he was employed, and then became an author, and later a motivational speaker – with his own PBS Special! And he attributes it all to GRATITUDE!
Another way to bring gratitude into your daily life – in fact, several times a day is with to say a prayer of Thanksgiving with every meal.
This helps in so many ways beyond just being grateful for provision. Have you ever tried to feel angry or stressed and feel sincere gratitude at the same time? I bet you can’t do it.
When you feel gratitude, you let go of stress and negativity. This moves your body from the stressed out Fight or Flight mode into the Rest & Digest mode of the parasympathetic nervous system. This is what your body needs to better digest what you’re eating and bring you better health overall!
Sidi gave us this prayer of gratitude to say with our meals. In case you don’t know it, I’ll share it here. It’s truly beautiful.
In case you can’t see the picture, here’s the text:
We give thanks for this food
that You have given from Your earth.
Please bless this food and make it holy
to nourish our bodies, minds, hearts, souls and spirits.
Whether or not you celebrate the US Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow, I hope you will enjoy this prayer with all of your meals.
One more thing before we sign off. Watch for an email from us on Friday for Ways to Brighten Up Black Friday. Yes, we’ll have some specials for you to support your heart through the coming season.
Have a blessed holiday!
Blessings and Gratitude,
Mastura Graugnard, on behalf of your friends and family at UOS
P.S. If you’re thinking about Fawzia’s webinar coming up a week from Saturday, go ahead and register. We are not planning to offer any more specials on that one. If we do, we’ll offer you the same opportunity. Here’s the link to register for Fawzia. Blessings!
