By Rev. Dr. Kharma R. Amos, Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick, Maine
I’ve been thinking a lot about gratitude lately. In part, that’s because Generating Gratitude has been a theme of reflection for our congregation this month. It may also have something to do with the fact that “Thanksgiving” is upon us. Despite its colonial baggage, which is considerable and enduring, there remains an association between this holiday and the spiritual practice of giving thanks.
It occurs to me that gratitude has a proper pace to it, and it’s not fast.
I don’t know about you, but I find myself rushing these days from meeting to meeting, or task to task. The world feels like it’s spinning more quickly and out of control than ever, and for some reason, I act like I think I should keep up. That, I realize, is not a path to gratitude.
To be grateful for something, we must first be aware of it. Alice Walker captured this sentiment in The Color Purplewhen she wrote, “I think it [peeves] God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it. People think pleasing God is all God cares about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.” How many times have I passed by a field and not even noticed the purple flowers, the singing birds, the graceful butterflies, the beauty of the natural world or the people who love me? Sadly, way too many!
How can I learn to be grateful for the diverse splendor of the world if I do not linger long enough to notice? How can I truly appreciate the taste of apple, for example, if I don’t slow down and savor the sensual experience of it? How can I honor the people in my life, from kind strangers to intimate beloveds, if I take them for granted in my busy-ness?
I’m learning that the pace of gratitude is slow and deliberate. It’s the kind of journey that takes a while because you really have to pay attention and find the joy of discovery in each turn of the road.
There’s a mindfulness technique, appropriate for people of any age, called 54321. It’s an embodied practice to cultivate presence and awareness in the current moment. It simply invites us to stop, breathe deeply, and consider: 5 things we can see, 4 things we can touch, 3 things we can hear, 2 things we can smell, and 1 thing we can taste.
I’ve decided to try this on as a gratitude practice this season, and invite you to consider doing the same. In each of these “noticings,” are there things for which we are grateful and failed to acknowledge that gratitude? Every single time I have done this, I have experienced a growing awareness and gratitude for the simple things that make life beautiful. If you try it out, I hope you will too.