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October Newsletter — Oct 9, 2009
The world overflows with creative intentions that become beneficial actions. This may not be the view of the world we get from the nightly news, but when you start looking for the constructive efforts carried out by people all over the world, you will be amazed and heartened by what you discover. Yes, there are wars and rumors of wars. Yes, our planet is desperate for restorative caretaking. Yes, people’s individual suffering is profound. And also, a wave of renewal unlike anything our planet has ever seen is sweeping through people’s minds and hearts, bringing us to the threshold of a new chapter in history in which we can turn again to the most promising potentials of human nature: to create, peace, beauty, harmony, and joy wherever we go. Great difficulties give birth to even greater opportunities.
The examples speak for themselves. Prompted by a dream, Vijali Hamilton traveled through cultures around the world using art and ceremony as natural expressions of the struggles and solutions of each community she encountered. You will find her video story under our “Caring for the Earth” topic (scroll down to “Links”):
http://www.gratefulness.org/t/motherearth_links.htm
Gratefulnews takes you traveling to more instances of creative problem-solving around the globe: flood-relief efforts, great hardship turned into kinship, a town’s eco-rebuilding…
http://www.gratefulness.org/gratefulnews/index.htm
…and whether on the road or at home in Gampo Abbey, Ani Pema Chödrön brings practical compassion into focus through her sparkling example and writings:
http://www.gratefulness.org/giftpeople/chodron.htm
Pema Chödrön’s teachings remind us that the world we envision must begin with our individual practice and spread into all our relationships, even permeating our dreams as Vijali Hamilton discovered. As we at A Network for Grateful Living (ANG*L) approach our Thanksgiving fundraising campaign next month, designed to let you honor someone for whom you are grateful, we feel the great dignity with which each of you strives to embody a grateful life. Our hearts overflow with gratitude for your partnership with us in this transformative venture. As a new poem by Dale Biron suggests –
http://www.gratefulness.org/poetry/grateful_biron.htm
– we all have our days of feeling like an “old clunker” facing insurmountable hills, but a “mysterious fuel,” the very wonder of existence, keeps moving us into bold, innovative solutions.
In Gratefulness,
Patricia and Margaret
on behalf of our ANG*L Webteam
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