Dear friends,
Have you ever had a situation where a song appears to be going around in your head?
That has been happening to me in the last couple of days and it is what has given rise to this meditation.
I read that the song in question goes all the way back,
Right back to 1984.
Its title,
I just called to say I love you.
And it got me thinking about how we need to let people know how we feel about them.
Welcome to this meditation entitled,
Just call to say something kind.
Let's begin by bringing ourselves to a place of quiet relaxation,
Leaving aside the concerns of yesterday,
Today and tomorrow and taking a pause to bring ourselves into the present moment.
A one minute pause now,
Which is your invitation to take it easy and just let things be.
Welcome back.
Now going back to the song title,
It may not be appropriate in all cases to phone someone to tell them you love them.
But of course,
If you do love someone,
It's important that you let them know.
The words I love you are not said often enough.
What I had in mind for today's meditation was to remind myself not to take people for granted.
I'm sure we've all had the experience of receiving words of praise or encouragement.
Even thinking back on it now,
We can all remember how good it felt to receive that praise.
There we were proceeding along,
Just doing our duty,
Not something heroic or special.
And all of a sudden,
Out of the blue,
Someone noticed that we were making a difference and they told us,
Well done.
Words like that are such an encouragement.
Every day,
We find ourselves on the receiving end of acts of kindness.
Some of them paid for,
For example,
When we take a taxi.
But many more coming to us freely by people simply doing what they do.
So many reasons for gratitude on our part.
And I'm sure many of us have the practice,
Last thing at night,
Of taking note of these kindnesses.
But how often do we call someone aside to say how much we appreciate what they are doing?
How often do we offer a word of thanks?
A gesture such as a handwritten note,
Rare these days,
Or some small gesture to indicate that we have taken note of some action on their part,
Which may have been quite routine for them,
But which means everything to us.
Another pause for reflection now.
And in the minute that follows,
You might like to take a little time to look over the good people in your life and their kindnesses.
Welcome back again.
In the ups and downs of life,
Isn't it great to be able to recall all the good that comes to us?
We all have our down days,
Days when things are not going according to plan.
But in these times,
When things are not quite as we would wish them to be,
Isn't it great to be able to pause,
To stop,
And give thanks for everything that is still going well?
And most of the time,
For most of us,
So many things are going well.
It's never too late to say thank you.
While the people who know us and love us are around,
Let us never be afraid to tell them how we feel,
And how we appreciate all they have done,
And all they are doing for us.
These simple acts of appreciation will not only inspire the person receiving it,
But it will encourage us to be ever more mindful of all the good things that are going on in our own lives.
Just thinking along these lines brings to my mind the words of a psalm.
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.
All my being bless his holy name.
Now there's no need for a philosophical examination of what we mean by the word Lord.
Giving thanks for all that is good,
We give thanks for what is the basis of a gift beyond measure,
Something of which all of us are beneficiaries.
The extraordinary fact of our existence in this extraordinary world,
Where we are surrounded by so much love.
Namaste.
