Your Secret Garden

Good afternoon, Loved Ones,

Two quotes to consider for tonight. The first is from Sarah Ban Breathnach who has written a great deal on the subject of gratitude. The second is attributed to Buddha and I think establishes the sort of baseline gratitude we express when working in 100 degree heat we say, "Well, at least it's not raining!"

“Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend… when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present — love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure — the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience Heaven on earth.” –Sarah Ban Breathnach

“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.” — Buddha

So, whether you are tending your secret garden of abundance or simply happy you didn't die today . . . whatever inspires your expressions of gratitude, know that gratitude is not gratitude if it is not expressed. If you don't say it here, then say it to someone near you. "Thank you!"

Thank you for . . .

. . . twenty brave Dream Act young people who are tired of living in the shadows and risked arrest and deportation to make a case for the DREAM Act.
. . . the coalition of leaders who came together and planned and executed the Love Conquers Hate rally last week in southern Johnson County.
. . . the cool rooms to which I am able to retreat after a day of working in the hot sun.
. . . Cofi the Border Collie who always greets me with love and is a great swimmer.
. . . the 5000 youth and adult leaders from Grandview Park and many other churches who have gathered at the Presbyterian Youth Triennium at Purdue University to learn and be inspired.

What's in your secret garden today?

Pastor Rick