A Christmas Meditation on Gratitude

The following meditation was used by Randall on Christmas morning. As a family, and with our special friends, we would walk to a special place in nature (often a hill overlooking the area) and share this mediation together (Randall would lead us through this, reading from this hand-out). I publish this in the hope that it may offer those who wish to celebrate this day, a way of doing so with their loved ones. I have also published a second Christmas meditation (as an alternative), focusing on New Life. I hope it proves useful to you.

Opening thoughts

Welcome to our meditation on this beautiful Christmas morning. Irrespective of one’s spiritual beliefs, for most of us here today, Christmas is a time when we reflect on all that we are grateful for in our lives. It is a time when we feel the need to make a real effort to be with our loved ones, and to offer gifts to each other, as a sign of love and appreciation for them being in our lives. It is a special time of the year that prompts us to be mindful of the many blessings that we experience and enjoy, and to acknowledge how grateful we are for them. So in many ways, Christmas is a time for reflection, and a time for deep gratitude for family, and for all the blessings of life we received over the course of this year. And so it is in this spirit of gratitude that I welcome you to our morning mediation. 

Reflection.

What Christmas means to me, and what I feel particularly grateful for (allow everyone to share their thoughts).

Meditation on Gratitude

Please join me in this meditation on gratitude.

For our families and friends

Who strengthen and support us

For moms and dads

For uncles and aunts

And cousins & grandparents

                       

WE ARE REALLY GRATEFUL

For homes and health

For food and energy

For the beauty and diversity

Of all life on Planet Earth

For her wonderful animals & plants

                       

WE ARE REALLY GRATEFUL

For fun and playtime

For laughter and learning

For the magic of language

And the skill of writing

For the promise of ongoing development

                       

WE ARE REALLY GRATEFUL

For medical researchers

For doctors and specialists

For science and technology

And the many procedures

That save and extend our lives

                       

WE ARE REALLY GRATEFUL

For the learning that comes

With good times and bad times

For the deep principles of life

That lie hidden just below

The surface of every experience

                       

WE ARE REALLLY GRATEFUL

For the unique calling

That comes to each of us

The destiny that only we

Can follow and fulfill

For our unlimited potential

                       

WE ARE REALLY GRATEFUL

Personal wishes.  

In preparation for today, each person was asked to pick the name of another person in our group (out of the magic hat), and to write them a personal wish for their year ahead. It is now time for each of us to take turns reading our special wish to our selected person (get up and sit in front of them while you read them your wish). Allow each person to receive their wish (i.e. do this one wish at a time).

Remembering Family and Friends.

While we have all had the chance to give each other a wish for their year ahead, we are acutely aware of family members and friends who are not with us today. And so we also take time to acknowledge them, and to offer them a special wish for their year ahead.

Closing thoughts

We are indeed so blessed

With abundance that we

Dare not forget those who

Lack our good fortune

So, let us ensure that we reach out

To those without family or friends

Those who are struggling to survive

Materially, intellectually or emotionally

May we consciously enable
Our plenty to spill over

Into others lives and enrich

Their bodies, minds and spirits

May the universal energy of Life

The unfailing power of Love

Give us grace to become mirrors

Of the compassion shown by Jesus

That we may be angels of mercy

In a world often out of kilter

We dedicate this meditation

To him whose birthday we celebrate this morning

But also to those prophets and philosophers

Scientists and writers and artists

Whose lives and love and logic

Have pointed us to the truth.

In fact, for all of them

WE ARE REALLY GRATEFUL