Life seems dull. It has rained for FOUR days here in Dunedin. I walked in the rain on Saturday night. My friend and I got soaked jogging in the rain on Sunday, and the rain has limited my activities on this my day off. I could not do outside stuff so I fiddled with the computer and listened to a U tube talk by Matthew Fox. He talked about thankfulness or gratitude. He said that greed and addictions were the opposite of thankfulness. That when we feel that we have an empty bucket we crave more of "whatever"... money, booze etc etc. He suggested that emptiness in our soul meant we crave more and implied that thankfulness and gratitude were the antidote. So I thought I would gather thoughts about what I am thankful for today.
- Friends to walk and run with in the rain.
- Ability to run an OK wedding service and a Church service over the weekend.
- Warmth of greetings as I shared at the wedding.
- A day off!
- A cup of tea in bed, while reading the morning paper.
- A friend calling for morning tea.
- In house jokes and common history with my wife.
- A warm house and plenty of wood to light the fire.
- Health enough to walk and run over the weekend.
- The computer, broadband and internet so that I could listen to speakers like Marcus Borg, Matthew Fox and even old country music songs.
- Fritters for lunch and chilli sauce.
- Apple jelly made from copious supplies of our own apples.
That will do. I'll add a few photos to brighten your day. To fix your addictions and greed take a dose of gratitude. That old hymn goes... "Count your blessings."
Photos top to bottom.... thankfulness for the world of nature.
- Flowers on the slopes of Mt Ruapehu
- Flowers beside the track at Table Top, a way above Otaki Forks.
- One of our old apple trees, this year laden with apples (More apple jelly- Have you ever had apple jelly with ice cream? Out of this world!)
- Red hot pokers out our kitchen window.
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