Heart and Hands
I think, really, they are linked. Linked through the brain, a long journey, but linked. Hands carry out that work of heart. And the heart hears, listens to find out which tasks the hands need to accomplish.
So, six years ago I began a journey of gratitude. I didn't know it at the time. In fact, it really started out as a journey of difficulty, of unknowing, of disbelief. The news was earth shattering, all shades of sad and anger. All shades of regret and shame and guilt and wishing I had done better. But over this lifetime, I have learned, there is always something...to learn! So, as I embarked on the very darkest journey, I became aware of the light. The light of belief. The light of trust. The light of joy! And I have to tell you, that joy-light, it shines brightest of all, next to hope! When you can believe and trust, you have hope, which in turn leads to joy. Joy permeates the darkest spaces and places and tidies up messes as it washes through. And I learned that gratitude allows joy to cleanse and to create and to fill any small spaces left. It is warm, joy. Gratitude itself, for me, has no temperature. It simply is. But joy warms, like a cup of cocoas that is just right. You know, the creamy kind that may or may not have a sprinkle of cardamom and cinnamon. Joy is like that.
Heart and hands. My heart is in a constant state of finding gratitude for everything. I love to drop off or mail a card of thanks- for the warmth it brings to me and the recipient. I enjoy sending a letter with thoughts of caring and love, of thanks and gratefulness, so that we each are blessed with the warmth of the fellowship it brings. I love to carry out my heart's messages, the sermon through serving and through giving, rather than through words that are not felt. Words last momentarily, but service, gratitude, encouragement and random acts of kindness warm long after the deed is accomplished, accomplishing exactly what it is meant to do!
Food, music, massage, little pots of healing salve-- anything to help soothe! Compassion works like that--empathic, thoughtful and thorough. Every day, I want to find something that will help, that will show mercy or encouragement. Gratitude, a thankful heart. Joy, warmth, love shines through. Love that is a word but not an action is just a clanging gong or cymbal. The action makes love believable. Oxytocin, that love hormone which we have been gifted with, permeates and envelopes. It walks in to the midst before we do. And oxytocin is my favourite substance! I know I am addicted to it!
So, in joy, in gratitude, I wants my hands to be guided by my heart. Joy will light the way from deep within. And on these darkest days, before the bleakest mid-winter, the warmth of music, of fellowship and encouragement, of touch and laughter will guide my pathway.
So, six years ago I began a journey of gratitude. I didn't know it at the time. In fact, it really started out as a journey of difficulty, of unknowing, of disbelief. The news was earth shattering, all shades of sad and anger. All shades of regret and shame and guilt and wishing I had done better. But over this lifetime, I have learned, there is always something...to learn! So, as I embarked on the very darkest journey, I became aware of the light. The light of belief. The light of trust. The light of joy! And I have to tell you, that joy-light, it shines brightest of all, next to hope! When you can believe and trust, you have hope, which in turn leads to joy. Joy permeates the darkest spaces and places and tidies up messes as it washes through. And I learned that gratitude allows joy to cleanse and to create and to fill any small spaces left. It is warm, joy. Gratitude itself, for me, has no temperature. It simply is. But joy warms, like a cup of cocoas that is just right. You know, the creamy kind that may or may not have a sprinkle of cardamom and cinnamon. Joy is like that.
Heart and hands. My heart is in a constant state of finding gratitude for everything. I love to drop off or mail a card of thanks- for the warmth it brings to me and the recipient. I enjoy sending a letter with thoughts of caring and love, of thanks and gratefulness, so that we each are blessed with the warmth of the fellowship it brings. I love to carry out my heart's messages, the sermon through serving and through giving, rather than through words that are not felt. Words last momentarily, but service, gratitude, encouragement and random acts of kindness warm long after the deed is accomplished, accomplishing exactly what it is meant to do!
Food, music, massage, little pots of healing salve-- anything to help soothe! Compassion works like that--empathic, thoughtful and thorough. Every day, I want to find something that will help, that will show mercy or encouragement. Gratitude, a thankful heart. Joy, warmth, love shines through. Love that is a word but not an action is just a clanging gong or cymbal. The action makes love believable. Oxytocin, that love hormone which we have been gifted with, permeates and envelopes. It walks in to the midst before we do. And oxytocin is my favourite substance! I know I am addicted to it!
So, in joy, in gratitude, I wants my hands to be guided by my heart. Joy will light the way from deep within. And on these darkest days, before the bleakest mid-winter, the warmth of music, of fellowship and encouragement, of touch and laughter will guide my pathway.
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