A Pledge For Grateful Living

My prayer that I say every morning at least is "All that is, animate and inanimate, is one and is sacred, and that includes me.  For that I am grateful.  And I respect and honor the oneness and sacredness that each of us is."  That prayer is an expression of my growth in realization that we are one and sacred, and helps me be mindful of that.  That awareness and prayer also help me to overcome my illusion of entitlement, help me to realize that everything is a gift, help me be grateful like I never was years ago, help me lessen my greed and to share at least more generously, help me to care more and be more creative, help me be all the more non-violent in my ways, help me be less fearful and more courageous.  My pledge is to continue on this path.  As far as fear being the root of violence, I believe that violence arises from a position of feeling powerless in an attempt to gain power, and we are often full of fear when feeling powerless.  I know that violence only begets more violence.  I've come to often be in a state of gratitude, which seems to generate more compassion and peace for me, so gratitude makes a big difference in my life.  Thank you for this reading from Brother David Steindl-Rast -- I appreciate it.

 In thanksgiving for life, I pledge to better respect and honor myself as God's son . . . In this, sacred.  To acknowledge myself in any other way would be to dishonor my Father in Heaven.  (Thinking of you, David, in writing this.)  We are His.  
Love your thoughts!  Amen.