9* GRATITUDE

Soul Sparks 2023

9
GRATITUDE

The whispers of the tree

I once sat in a big old tree.
Me, human being, despairing
about so many things that plagued me.
And I told the tree about my suffering
and asked him if he could help me.

LISTENING.

And
little by little,
sitting there and feeling the tree
and all the creatures crawling
around it and on top of it

…

I felt him.
I felt this tree
with his concentrated
LIFE.

And he began to whisper to me,
to tell me his story.
And began
with a picture of himself
as a tiny little
SEEDLING.

Tiny,
defenseless,
alone in his place
and for all time
at the mercy of
what he would
encounter there.

I felt him
and the path,
the time
it needed,
that this seedling
grew into
the mighty and great tree
that he is now,
on which I sat.

A feeling of awe
and a growing awareness
of the infinite moments
in which this tree
grew,
was nurtured,
was tested,
and continued
to grow,
being nourished,
being challenged,
and grew

…

And then he whispered to me,
that it was one quality,
one power alone,
that made him become
what he is:

His
GRATITUDE.

His gratitude for every drop of water,
that the rain gave him.
His gratitude for every ray of light and warmth
that the sun sent him.
His gratitude for every being
that came to visit him.
His gratitude for every animal,
that found its home in him.
His gratitude for every mushroom
that grew in its roots.
His gratitude for the space
in which it was allowed to develop.
His gratitude for the place
where it once sprouted
and now stands
and can continue to grow.

Always
and again
and again
and on
and on
and on.

The stream of gratitude in him
has never stopped.
It was always there,
like the magical elixir
that connected
the world
with him.
In which he
GIVES
himself to the world,
and the world
REJOICES
in him,
GIVING
him
FREELY
everything
he needs.

And there I sat.
Marveling at
how his gratitude
has always been with him.
How
STRONG
HAPPY
CONFIDENT
ALIVE
& LIGHT
it made him.

And some of it
has been with me ever since,
flows in my veins too.
Invites myself to be
GREATFUL,
too.
And has gifted me
with the feeling,
that I have experienced
RECEIVING
gratitude.

From this tree,
for my presence
and my question
and my listening.

In this moment I
SHARED
my being
with this tree.
And it made us both
a little bit happier,
it
NOURISHED
us both.