A Master Teacher once reminded those who followed him that if they had faith as small as a mustard seed, they could order a mountain to move, and the mountain would move.
What if I take this idea and substitute “gratitude” for “faith”? What if I look at that mountain with gladness for it’s existence, expressing the joy I feel in it’s every crevice and outcropping? What if I look at the ‘mountains’ in my life the same way?
Sometimes, all I can see are the dips, rocks, and branches in my path, and fail to see the goodness all around me. There’s a tiny wildflower here, a beautiful fern there: there is quartz in the rock, shining in the sunlight, and sprouting tree seeds all around. There may be mosquitos and horse flies, but I can deal with the little annoyances. Can I still feel gratitude for the entirety, the beauty, the wondrous ways in which all I experience is miraculous?
If I look at that mountain and see it not as an obstacle to move or to conquer, but as a challenge I can rise to, haven’t I then ‘moved’ it? It no longer stands as solid as before. It is surmountable, passable, no longer too much for me.
That’s what I aim for. Start small when I have to, go big when I can, and feel the Presence of Joy in it all.
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