Gratitude and consciousness - Lent 2022, Day Three

My brother wrote to me in October, making the point that we should distinguish train of thought from stream of consciousness. The former - your daily to-do list, your anxieties and hopes, something you've read, thoughts that tick over, from one to the next. The latter - manifestations of purest consciousness, which are usually crowded out by those trains of thought rattling through the mind.

So - choose the moment to switch off your busy train of thought. It is not easy - being able to do so is the essence of meditation. It requires focus, awareness. And as you do so, feel the joy of being alive. Feel tears welling up in your eyes, feel that 'inner hug'. And then give thanks. Express gratitude for your existence, and for all the comforts you may enjoy - don't take them for granted.

You can just think 'thank you' - run those two words through your mind, like prattling a prayer - but that's not enough. You need to be aware of a genuine and profound sense of gratitude. That gratitude should be based upon the notion that you are not taking anything for granted. Your health, your eyesight and other senses, your mobility; 77 years of peace in Europe (notwithstanding the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s), food, rest, everything and everyone who brings you cheer. 

I'm writing this now instead of going on my walk - which I had put off until later in the day for work-calendar reasons, and then just as I was getting ready to go out - the heavens opened. Sleet and hail, turning to heavy rain. I had taken for granted that because it had been dry all afternoon, it would remain dry all evening. 

We live continually on the edge of chaos. Bad things can happen - and also, they can fail to materialise. Can we preclude misfortune by consciously considering it, and giving thanks for it not having occurred? It may be that we had become complacent about the chances of war and the massive destruction of innocent lives.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is filling my mind with anxiety - this is not going to finish well. It is a time for conscious contemplation of a swift end to the bloodshed. 

This time last year:
This planet, my home - now, then, and for the future

This time two years ago:
Salvation or peace of mind?

This time seven years ago:
Spiritual evolution - are we in a New Age?

This time ten years ago:
S2 - a year from completion?

This time 11 years ago:
In praise of blue skies

This time 12 years ago:
A piano, tuned

This time 14 years ago:
Four weeks into Lent