An attitude of gratitude brings altitude.
Jane
and I knew a man named George Emery.
George spoke about spiritual things and this was something he frequently
said, “An attitude of gratitude brings altitude.”
What does that mean?
Altitude is a point above the ground or sea level. When we are “at altitude” we are able to see
a broader picture… we gain a wider perspective of what’s in our field of
vision.
The higher our altitude, the
more our vision can encompass.
Gratitude gives us the “altitude” needed to open our hearts
and see a broader picture of circumstances, of events, of ourselves, and the
people we encounter.
The more we extend
gratitude, the greater our hearts are open. The greater our hearts are open the
more Love naturally flows from us. The
more Love that naturally flows from us the more we experience love. What we give is returned to us a thousand
fold or even a hundred thousand fold.
The
more love we give in our lives, the more love we know in our lives and
love is the emotion we feel when we are joined with God.
Gratitude
is one of a number of doors that opens onto the lawns of Heaven and it’s fields
of Love.
Just
like a fireplace needs fuel to burn (wood, coal, peat, gas, etc) in order to generate
heat. Gratitude is one of the kinds of fuel that our heart burns in order to
generate love.
This
from Psalm 107 (1&9). “O give thanks to the Lord, for he is Good; for his
steadfast Love endures forever… For he satisfies the thirsty, and the hungry he
fills with good things.”
O
give thanks… extend your gratitude and God fills you up… That seems like a
pretty good deal!
Let’s
look at words Paul wrote to the Romans (1:21) “for though they knew
God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became
futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
Now
let’s restate that from the positive, “for they knew God, they did honor Him as
God and give thanks to Him, thus they became useful in their thinking, and
their wise hearts were luminous.”
Gratitude
is the fuel of an illumined heart.
In
the meditation today I said that you have come further on the spiritual path…
grown in awareness of the Presence of God to a greater degree than you realize. And I also said that A bit of wavering
remains… that there are, yet, some small objections and a little hesitance. All of that come from being uncertain about
ourselves; from being uncertain about our value as a Child of God.
·
Hold up crisp
$100 Dollar bill
·
“If I were giving
this away – which I am not – but if I were, if it was yours simply for the
asking, who would want it?”
·
“OK, hands down,
please.”
·
(Crumple bill)
“Now who wants it?”
·
“OK, hands down,
please.”
·
(Drop on the
ground and grind into the floor w/my shoe) “Now who wants it?”
·
Ask, “Why do you
still want it if it’s been crumpled and ground into the dirt?” (Wait for answers)
· “We have learned a very valuable lesson here today. No matter what I
did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It
was still worth 100 dollars. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled,
and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that
come our way. We may feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has
happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean,
crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who do love you
(including God).
·
The worth of your
life comes not in what you do or who you know, but who you are… and you are the
dearly beloved child of God – always remember that.
Gratitude
is the fuel of that remembrance. We’ll
conclude with this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj2ofrX7jAk
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