Thursday, August 02, 2007

Thankful, thoughtful Thursday



An iced skim "mint condition" coffee drink at Caribou Coffee: $4.21 (gulp)
A whole grain bagel, toasted with butter: $.96 (nice)
Sitting alone at a corner table, reading a book entitled Sanctuary, journaling, giving thanks to God for His infinite love for every person I see in this cafe, on the street, on bicycles, on foot, in the office buildings across the way: Priceless.

My gratitude moves me to pray.

On my husband and children, each in a different place at the moment.
On my family members near and far: in Qatar, in Peru, in Florida, in New York - and beyond.
On the friends I miss and love.
On my neighbor whose mother died last weekend.
On the woman who toasted my bagel and the man who mixed my drink.
On the boy I saw on his bike outside.
On everyone I have ever seen, spoken to, smiled at, hugged and loved.
On the people who survived the Minneapolis bridge collapse.
On the loved ones of those who did not.
On the farmers whose fields are cracked and singed by drought.
On the homeowners whose floors and walls are warped by flood waters.
On the families torn apart by abuse, addiction, bankruptcy, and despair.
On the families torn apart by wealth, greed, discontent, and the constant hunger for more things that never satisfy.
On the politically, socially, racially, religiously, ethnically oppressed people the world around.
On the rich and famous.
On the poor and obscure.
On the obese and the anorexic.
On the joyful and the sorrowful.

On these and all the rest of us who fall between the cracks on this list
and the cracks in this life,
On all of these, O Lord God of All Comfort, Love, Light, Grace, and Peace,
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy on us all.


(Photo is of a church in Cadiz, Spain.)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your powerful prayers. I prayed them along with you as I read your post today. I wish I could have been there with you - enjoying the coffee and bagel - and feeling that soulful, prayerful energy.

Part of my Thankful Thursday includes gratitude for you, my new friend :-)

Hugs,
Lisa

Shelby said...

happy Friday :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks to you both, Lisa and Shelby, for your comments and kind words. I would love to sit with you too, Lisa, for coffee, bagels, and a long talk. Perhaps even some soulful, prayerful energy exchange. One of my great wishes is to meet the many women I am coming to know online. Perhaps someday at BlogHer...

Happy Friday and Saturday and Sunday to you, Shelby. I really like the photos you post on your blog. Beautiful.

Grace and peace to you all, Gail

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the reminder to express thankfulness. I am, thankful, but I realized I don't verbalize it all that often.

And yes, you are on that list. :)

Anonymous said...

Nice meeting up with you for coffee yesterday. It turns out our power was out too, good thing we were staying cool in the coffee shop.

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