reverence and gratitude

Rahima Baldwin said that reverence and gratitude form the basis of our spiritual lives.  that if we can approach life with reverence and respond with gratitude, we will be able to lead our children as well.  and that just rings so true to me.

late one night as i was sweeping up the kitchen, i realized again that i was spending my life cleaning up messes that would be made new in the morning.  but i was doing it because i wanted to show forth my thanks not only with my lips but also with my life.  i was grateful beyond words for the lives that had made this mess.  it was reverence for these lives that had me re-making our home.

no one understood the connect between reverence for life, profound gratitude, and a life given over to service better than Dorothy Day.  she made life on the edge of the Bowery in New York City beautiful by offering a cup of coffee and a bowl of soup to the least among us.

how will you and your children give thanks this year?