“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10
A year ago I stumbled upon a blog called A Holy Experience. The captivating poetry of Ann Voscamp’s writing, photos of her life on a farm, and the background music of David Nevue’s piano playing, created a soothing and healing world. It was one of the blogs which inspired me to start The Contemplative Cottage. Yesterday, as I took some time to lose myself in its many pages and Advent meditations, I discovered Ann’s gratitude practice, One Thousand Gifts, which has created a “gratitude community” of folks and bloggers who have taken up the practice themselves.
The practice is simple: list what you are thankful for and thank God for them. Keep adding to the list over time until you reach 1000. List 10 things a day or spend a quiet morning or a Sabbath day making a longer list once a week. Take the nearest scrap of paper and start writing.
What brings you joy today? Makes you laugh? Whose presence are you thankful for? What beauty do you notice and take delight in? Who or what touches your heart and mind?
Ann describes these gifts as God’s “I love you” and our grateful response as a practice of worship. She says that making the list made her want to look for more of these grace-full experiences. Knowing from my own practice of paying attention to the beauty in nature, intentional looking leads to seeing more and more of what would have been unnoticed.
The word that comes to mind is abundance. Rather than seeing a glass half full or half empty, this practice suggests that the glass is overflowing, just waiting to be noticed. I am going to take up Ann’s challenge and start making my list.
“When in all gifts we find God, then in God we shall find all things.” George MacDonald.