Tag: christ jesus

Reblog: Garden of Gratitude

Published on by lindseybiggsLeave a comment

It’s so easy to get caught up in focusing on the negative, or all the things “wrong” around us. This blog post illustrates how valuable it is to get caught up in the good around us, instead.

 

Garden of Gratitude

by Patrick Collins

…He told me that on his morning trip next door four days after he began ‘deadheading”, as he gazed at the pots he noticed how brilliant and colorful the geraniums were. He suddenly realized that he had spent the first part of the week focusing on the dead flowers, looking intently for the “dead and gone” and what he could “bury”.   He realized that he had overlooked the beauty of the entire garden, and each individual plant by looking for death instead of life. He became incredibly GRATEFUL for life and being. Read more

Reblog: Grateful teens

Published on by lindseybiggs1 Comment

from CSMonitor.com

It’s not about the money.

A recent study focused on the effect of gratitude on teenagers. There are a lot of reasons teens are grateful. And being rich isn’t necessarily one of them. Similarly, there are plenty of reasons teens might act as if they had a gratitude deficit. Being poor doesn’t necessarily seem to be one of them.

The study suggests that regardless of a teenager’s socioeconomic background, he or she can experience the benefits of a grateful heart, including the benefit of better mental health. Through a few changes in outlook, attitude, and behavior, he or she can make big gains on the gratitude front. Teens who are the most grateful find a number of benefits multiplying. Such as? Things like improved academic performance, a sense of purpose, more hope, and more happiness. As these take root, they grow more common to a teen’s outlook and more natural to his or her life. On the flip side, things like hopelessness or depression – which are at times linked to suicide in teens – grow less prevalent. Read more

Stepping out of partisanship

Published on by lindseybiggs1 Comment

During this political season it can be hard to keep my thoughts pure, holy and in line with God when thinking about political parties. It’s so easy to jump into partisanship, thinking one side is better than the other, or that the solutions to our problems depend on one party and candidate.

But doesn’t all of this break the First Commandment – “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me” (Exodus 20:3)?

When I think about political parties and the running candidates from God’s perspective, I naturally love and cherish the humanity and goodness in each individual and the ideas they express. I know that none of these individuals are “evil” because we are all children of God. When I look at things from this spiritual perspective, I know and trust that the good in my life comes from God and not from a human being or a political system. After all, God, infinite Mind, is the source of all good, useful, and creative ideas.

So in this election season, even though it can be challenging, I am praying to know that God’s ideas will be expressed in a way that blesses the whole world. I don’t personally know what the best answer will be; no human candidate is perfect, but God is. Praying in this way helps me bring the government of God back into my life and consciousness; enables me to feel more loving towards my fellow-man; and I feel better able to trust my well-being to God.

Interested in praying for mankind during this election season? Here are some great resources. 

Tonight – LIVE – event “Honest politics: no matter what side of the fence you’re on” 6pm ET

Article – “Government: What does God have to do with it?“