Gratitude is more than a feeling,
It's a posture of the soul chosen in humility.
It is a way of opening your heart,
Choosing to see life with wonder and awe.
It is the realisation that we are living in God's world,
Not him living in ours.
This truth softens us,
Opens us and makes room for his presence.
And his presence is the greatest gift of all.
It opens the eyes of our hearts,
Allowing us to notice even the smallest gifts,
To notice the sacred that is always around us.
Because every good and perfect gift is from above,
Flowing down from the father of lights.
Gratitude is learning to see and discovering that everything it finds is holy.
So whether you're sitting or lying down today,
Take a few moments now to make yourself as comfortable as possible,
Let your shoulders soften,
Let your jaw relax,
Feel the ground under you,
Strong and steady,
Holding you.
Take a slow deep breath in and let it out.
Take another deep breath and let it go slowly and with every breath let the weight of the day just slip away.
There's nothing you need to do,
Nowhere you need to be,
Just here.
And from this stillness we begin.
This journey begins seemingly small,
With a quiet thank you.
Thank you for this moment.
Thank you for this breath.
Thank you for this heartbeat.
Rest your hand gently over your heart,
Feel its beat,
This sacred drum that has carried you through every moment of your life.
Before you had a name,
Before you drew your first breath,
Before anyone knew you,
A spark flickered to life in the secret place of your mother's womb and your heart began to beat.
Not because you made it happen,
Not because you worked for it,
But because it was meant to be,
Because God placed it there.
Science describes it as electrical impulses,
A cascade of signals,
Firing rhythm into tissue,
But it is more than that.
It's a mystery,
A breath before breath,
A spark of God's life placed inside you.
The same spark is alive in you now,
Beating,
Pulsing,
Holding you in every moment.
Every heartbeat whispers,
You are here,
You are alive,
You are loved.
You didn't earn this spark.
It was given freely as a gift.
Your heart beats not just to keep you alive,
It beats to carry your soul,
To hold the weight of love,
The sound of laughter,
The ache of longing,
The quiet moments of wonder.
The spark is holy,
It is where spirit meets flesh,
Where eternity pulses inside time.
Notice that space within you,
Not just the physical beat of this sacred drum,
But the deeper spiritual essence it holds,
The place where heaven and earth meet,
Where your longings rest,
Where God whispers.
Breathe into this space now and take a moment to express a quiet thank you for this incredible gift.
Feel your heart soften.
Feel it unfurl.
Feel the warmth of gratitude,
Like sunlight filling a quiet room and let it spread over your heart and spill into your chest.
Let gratitude flow through you,
Soothing every corner of your being.
Let it soak in like spring rains into the soil of your soul.
Breathe dear one.
Breathe deeply and let it out slowly.
In your mind's eye,
Notice the garden around you,
Lush,
Full and inviting.
And there,
An ancient pathway,
Dappled in light and shadow,
Lined with soft moss disappearing into the trees.
It draws you in with a gentle pull.
There's something ancient here,
Something you can't quite name,
As if the path remembers everyone who has walked it before.
Walk slowly.
Feel the mossy stones beneath your feet,
Soft and alive.
Let the breeze gently brush your face.
Let the golden light kiss your skin,
As if heaven is brushing earth and you are walking between.
Notice how the light changes.
It turns golden and clear,
Like an autumn afternoon.
There is a gentle fresh sharpness,
As if the world itself is taking a deep breath and stretching into its true shape.
As the light touches the garden,
Your eyes begin to open to wonder.
Kneel down if you like and draw closer.
Everything seems alive,
Inviting you to see it.
It feels as though creation wants to be seen.
Every detail is alive,
Inviting you to witness it.
A flower tilts its painted face towards you,
Its colours an artist's palette.
Even the stones seem to hold quiet stories,
Their shapes carved with patient memory.
Run your hand across the soft carpet of moss,
A universe of green,
Jeweled with tiny droplets of dew.
Breathe in the damp earth,
Its fragrance rising like a silent hymn.
Life moves all around you,
A spider spins a silver thread,
A web glistening with holy architecture.
A bee lows itself into a nectar cup,
As if drinking from a chalice.
A butterfly folds and opens its stained glass wings,
While a dragonfly hovers,
Its shiny body shimmering like liquid light.
Spanish moss sways in the branches,
Soft as long flowing hair in a gentle breeze.
Orchids peer out playfully,
Like children hiding and giggling behind the leaves.
The ferns slowly unfold,
Stretching like sleepy arms towards the golden light.
Everything here is alive,
Breathing,
Moving,
With the presence of the one who made it.
This is living art.
Every detail has its own sacred life,
A world singing softly of its creator.
The light itself feels holy,
Pure,
Clear,
Awakening your eyes to the truth that every leaf,
Every shadow,
Every glimmer of colour is a whisper that you are standing on sacred ground.
With every step something stirs inside you,
A question,
A quiet longing,
A gentle curiosity.
You don't need to know where it leads.
You only need to follow.
This is the path of wonder.
Wonder is the childlike gaze of the soul,
Before it learns to explain,
Doesn't try to control or figure it out.
It simply opens,
Alive with what is.
Wonder is when your eyes widen and your breath catches.
Not because you understand,
But because you feel the mystery.
In that moment you are not separate from it,
You are a part of it.
It lives in the space between raindrops,
In the hush of trees swaying together,
In the touch of moonlight on a leaf,
In the stars scattered across a velvet sky.
Wonder doesn't need grand moments,
It turns the ordinary into something sacred,
In the steam curling from your tea,
In the rhythm of your heartbeat,
In the morning light spilling across your wall.
It whispers,
What if this moment is holy?
What if I'm standing on sacred ground and didn't even know it?
Wonder softens us,
It slows us down,
It lifts our gaze from what is broken to what is beautifully whole.
To live with wonder is to say yes to mystery,
To curiosity,
To beauty,
To guard in the little unnoticed things.
Breathe here for a moment,
Breathe in the wonder and now listen,
Listen to what it awakens inside of you.
Wonder doesn't leave us satisfied,
It makes us hungry,
Hungry to know more,
To feel more.
Notice it,
The quiet stirring in your chest,
A deep calling from your soul.
Wonder has opened a longing,
A soft ache to know the source of all this beauty.
Something in you knows this is sacred,
A threshold not everyone seeks,
An invitation not everyone follows,
Step closer,
The veil shimmers,
Not cloth but weightless and radiant.
Lift your hand to touch it and it is torn,
Not by time,
Not by chance but by love's own hand.
Step through and the world is filled with infinite light,
Drenched in the radiance of glory,
A hush fills you,
Like the quiet just before the dawn,
Like the stillness when the stars seem to whisper in light,
A hush that silences all the noise inside you,
A hush that shatters language,
Where every doubt and fear scatters,
There are no words,
No thoughts,
No explanations,
Your breath catches,
Your knees buckle under weightlessness,
You are awake as you've never been before,
You've entered the place where love is pure,
Without shadows,
Without fault,
Faithful beyond measure,
Here your fragility is safe,
Vulnerable,
Free and in this unravelling you hear your soul whisper,
I am held,
I am known,
I am loved and then a sigh escapes me as your spirit touches mine,
As you intertwine with me and we meet with grace,
A sound like rushing water fills me,
Floodgates opened,
Light as clear as rain washed sunset floods my being,
My heartbeat echoes yours,
Your pulse of love now thrumming in my chest,
A rhythm of holy desire,
Separation ends,
A wordless conversation,
A holy communion,
I am fully yours,
I am fully known and you so near,
So present are mine,
A cry of worship escapes my soul,
My chest burns with a holy fire,
My soul unburdened,
Free,
Weightless,
Soars,
This is the holy of holies,
Where I look upon the face of love,
The presence that eclipses every gift,
Where I no longer seek your hand but only your heart,
When the colour of the sky isn't just beautiful,
It's holy,
When a touch,
A sigh,
A breeze feels like heaven itself,
A shaft of light through the trees,
Heaven brushing earth,
Where the ordinary becomes an invitation to your presence and in that invitation,
I find you,
I rest here now,
In your presence,
Soaking in the light of your glory I take a deep slow breath,
The veil is still torn,
The light is still there,
But now it is also here,
In me with handfuls of this light,
I know I will return to the world,
I am lived in glory,
A temple in this moment I remember,
This is who I am,
This is whose I am,
I taste the sweetness of eternity still on my tongue my eyes wide with wonder at heaven,
Now I see my world with the same awe,
Because now I know it is all full of his light my heart touched by your radiance is now my own again,
But it is full of light to give I am not leaving this presence,
I am learning to carry it,
The garden was never behind me,
It blooms now within my own ribs,
Because he is within me we step back into the world,
Not with answers,
But with a hunger for the mystery of your presence,
Not with certainty,
But with a covenant of wonder the veil is still torn,
Love is still calling,
I need only to listen now,
Slowly begin to bring your awareness back,
Feel the chair or the floor beneath you,
Steady and firm notice the sounds around you,
The air on your skin,
Take a deep slow breath and place your hand over your heart feel your heartbeat,
That sacred drum,
Reminding you of the love and the light inside of you carry this feeling with you,
The garden,
The light,
The wonder,
It is still inside you move gently now,
As one who has seen the face of love,
And when you are ready,
Gently flutter your eyes open and remember,
You are here,
And he is here,
And that is enough
