Melting Snow

The First Thankful Thursday in December 2017

Istijlál (Majesty), 15 Qawl (Speech) 174 B.E. - Thursday, December 7, 2017

"Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity."
Bahá’u’lláh1

It is the first Thankful Thursday in December 2017, the last month of the Gregorian calendar. It has been an interesting, stressful, and joyous year. It has been a year full of both prosperity and adversity, but I suspect the same can be said for any year. I suppose I could list all the adversity and prosperity, I encountered over the past eleven months. Instead I am going to list everything I am thankful for because gratitude begets gratitude. I have found, over the past 70 years or so, that when I am grateful the more I find to be grateful for.

I am thankful
that I was able to attend the celebration
of the two-hundredth anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh.

I am grateful
         for spring blooming desert gardens
         containing white blossomed Geraniums,
         red Bottle brush,
         budding Agapanthus,
         and white flowered Daisies.

I am thankful
for hot coffee on
cold autumn mornings,
and hot chocolate on chilly afternoons.

I am grateful
         for silent mornings,
         filled with tranquility,
         so that I can say my prayers
         and meditate without interruption.

I am thankful
for the fun size
chocolate candy in the refrigerator.

I am grateful
         for the snow on Mount Charleston,
         because the sight of snow
         brings back fond memories of my childhood.

I am thankful
for websites where
I can find inspiring stories
that focus on good news to balance
all the bad and depressing news sites.

I am grateful
         for Facebook because
         I know that I can always
         fine something to laugh about
         when I log-in to update my status.

I am thankful
for food banks
where low income seniors
and other dispossessed people
can the necessary receive food.

I am grateful
         for medicare and medicaid
         because without them neither I
         nor my roommate could get needed medical attention.

Footnotes
1  Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, CXXX: “Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in…”