30 Days + of Gratitude ~ Day 18

1. I am grateful for Christmas.  While the doorways for me to enter more deeply into the Presence are infinite, it's one holiday that always flings wide the doors of my Heart.
2. I am grateful for the United Methodist Church.  You gave me a home growing up when I needed a community of Spirit, a community free from judgment, a place to begin birthing myself as an open-hearted leader and man, starting with Asbury First United Methodist Church on East Avenue, Rochester, NY, and the United Methodist Youth Fellowship (UMYF)...the mission trips, the Sunday nights, the friendships, the awakenings.  You made it possible through scholarships and loans for me to get through University.  Then last night you brought be back and opened my Heart wider on Christmas Eve at the Hollywood United Methodist Church....thank you....deep love...
3. I am grateful for Chanting!  Yep...while I've been a gatherer of knowledge most of my life, my real path is that of a Bhakta (the path of divine love and devotion to the One Heart)....since I first discovered chanting the "names" of the divine, I fell in love.  And it still takes me deeper into that One Heart every time I'm willing.
4. I am grateful that for all of the testing of my faith, I've never once been left high-and-dry!  Thank You...
5. I am grateful for the Writer's Group founded by David Elliott that gave me a place to get the wheels of my writing greased and moving for the last two years...into this place where I look forward to writing every day...where it's rarely ever a chore anymore.  And even on the days where it may "seem" like a chore, once I get writing the Presence comes into the foreground and I love the writing all over again.