Last year I engaged in a gratitude practice that was new for me.
Once a week, I reflected over the past seven days and selected something to express gratitude for, wrote it on a piece of paper, folded it, and placed it in a jar. This was my “Gratitude Jar.”
The jar moved around the house over the course of the year, but was often a part of my home altar. The jar was a constant reminder of God’s presence and action in my life. Watching the jar fill up through the year was a reminder of all the things in life for which to be grateful.
So as the year 2023 opened, I lit a candle, and opened my gratitude jar. As I read through all 52 slips of paper, I experienced a time of remembering, and enjoyed these gratitudes anew.
There were some things that I would have forgotten about, or not fully remembered, had I not recorded them. There were a couple of repeated things on the papers, but most were different – a vast array of blessings. The verse Psalm 23:5 came to mind: “my cup overflows.”
It was a lovely ritual of celebrating gifts and blessings of 2022 – in spite of many things that happened for which I was not grateful in that year. It was a warm and meaningful time to revisit these many relationships, gifts of creation, gifts of timing, and so much more.
My jar, emptied out from the past year, now has a few pieces of folded paper in the bottom of it for this year. I will watch it fill up through the year, and will go through the ritual of remembering the many gratitudes of this year as the new year opens in 2024.
If you are looking for a spiritual practice for this year, it’s not too late to start – with a gratitude jar or any number of meaningful practices.
Rev. Glynden Bode, Board of Directors, Fellowship of United Methodist Spiritual Directors and Retreat Leaders: Hearts on Fire. These reflections represent the view of the author..[ Photo provided by Rev. Glynden Bode.]
Recalibration LIVE!
Saturday, March 18
with Jane Vennard
1 – 4 pm Eastern
12 noon – 3 pm Central
11 am – 2 pm Mountain
10 am – 1 pm Pacific
Join us on zoom as we engage the topic:
White Supremacy and the
Experience of White Privilege:
An Interior Journey