Reflections

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  1. Charlie T
    Charlie T
    2 weeks ago

    Well, like some of you I’m sure, I logged on to this website this morning and it was having issues, so I wasn’t able to log on, but now here we are!
    Someone at Grateful.org had to push up their sleeves and fix whatever the problem was. So, thank you, thank you, thank you. 🙏
    Besides that, there was the fine people at the Taqueria that made our delicious lunch this afternoon. Also, I’ve had the pleasure of working with some very capable tradesmen today, that cared about their work and did a fine job performing their training obligation for our cameras.

    1. L
      Loc Tran
      2 weeks ago

      Charlie, when I woke up this morning around 7:30am, I faced similar problems too. I’m glad it got worked out and knew it would. Happy to see your response as usual.

  2. sparrow51014
    sparrow
    2 weeks ago

    My brother-in-law
    is an IT geek,
    and has his whole house set up with wifi . . .
    wifi to lock and unlock the doors,
    wifi to turn the lights on and off,
    wifi to adjust his furnace and his air conditioning,
    and so on and so on.
    I’ve often wondered what would happen
    if it all stopped running . . .
    like we,
    well,
    some of us,
    thought would happen when we came into 2000,
    (Y2K, remember?)
    and it didn’t,
    but what if it did?
    Would my brother-in-law be locked out of his house?
    I have no idea,
    as I am not a technology whiz,
    but I am thankful
    that there are people out there who know a thing or two,
    and restored internet capabilities to thousands,
    hundreds or thousands,
    millions of people.
    I have no idea how many were affected by the outage this morning,
    as no one has chosen to enlighten me . . .
    the news reporting has been silent,
    and the only way I know that something happened globally
    is hearing about it from these forums.

    I am grateful daily,
    for the gifts from strangers . . .
    a woman named Betty
    pointed out to me the chain of events
    that happens whenever we interact with the world.
    For example,
    as others have stated,
    I am grateful for the person who planted the seed many years ago,
    the farmer who tended the tree,
    the one who picked the apple,
    the truck driver who brought the apple to market,
    the worker who put that apple on display for me to see it,
    the clerk who checked me out . . .
    I am grateful for all of it.

    But today
    I am especially thankful
    for the person or people
    who brought the internet,
    double edged sword that it is,
    back to me this morning. ♥

    1. L
      Loc Tran
      2 weeks ago

      Sparrow, this goes to show how much we need each other and that we can’t go alone.

      1. sparrow51014
        sparrow
        2 weeks ago

        Indeed,
        dear Loc . . . ♥

  3. Robin Ann
    Robin Ann
    2 weeks ago

    My pharmacy is filling my prescription that they txt me was on hold even though my paperwork said I had a refill. Beside that my co-workers- ( not strangers) are decorating the outside of our cubicles at work for the Holidays which is a Ginger bread theme this year 🎄🎅

    My son gave me a beautiful bouquet of Fall flowers Sunday just because 💐☺️

  4. L
    Loc Tran
    2 weeks ago

    I received lab orders for my psych meds concerning my bipolar disorder from the clinic I go to for mental health treatment at Nystrum’s and Associates close to my house in New Brighten. I got them to fax it to my primary care clinic in Arden Hills. I’ll be getting my lab tests taken care of tomorrow morning before the holidays settle in for my 3-month Dr.’s visit for February. I greatly appreciate the hospital workers helping me get that coordinated urgently. Psych meds are serious, and it’s nice to get things taken care of the sooner the better, especially right before the holidays.

    1. sparrow51014
      sparrow
      2 weeks ago

      That’s a nice feeling,
      isn’t it,
      dear Loc,
      when your medical helpers
      are able to be on time,
      and let your mind be free of anxiety . . .
      I get it. ♥

      1. L
        Loc Tran
        2 weeks ago

        It sure is, Sparrow. Lab tests are the last things needed to hang on the mind during the holidays.

  5. S R
    Kansha
    2 weeks ago

    I was swimming and thinking about the question for today and suddenly the voice said all beings provided for me in someway or the other good or bad or in between. It does not have to be material things. It is a joy to walk or work with all beings and receive gifts. In gratitude of all these beings, I am grateful. Thanks.

    1. L
      Loc Tran
      2 weeks ago

      Kansha, I go to LA Fitness everyday to swim. I’m always with people my parent’s generation. Because I can’t see well and go there everyday, they know me so well and tell me what lanes are open. Even if all of them are used, they’re kind enough to let me share a lane with them, and it all works out.

    2. sparrow51014
      sparrow
      2 weeks ago

      You have been the giver of gifts too,
      dear Kansha . . . ♥

  6. Patti
    sunnypatti
    2 weeks ago

    I had a nice, long list of services ready to post earlier, and then that Cloudfare outage kicked me off. Happy to be here now 🙂
    So many things already mentioned – electricity, wifi, laptop/phone, coffee maker, coffee beans, running water, the chair I’m sitting in, the plate I’m eating off of, the cup I’m using to drink from, my car that took me to and from the fitness center to teach this morning, the speakers that played my music there, the printed book I read from at the end of my class, the glass vase that is holding the gorgeous roses my husband got me – roses that someone planted and grew and cut and sold and sold again 🌹

    The list is long – and I am ever grateful for the many people who work to provide products and services to all of us. We are very blessed to have everything we need at our fingertips. I know it is not the same for everyone around the world.

  7. pkr29022
    pkr
    2 weeks ago

    Such a timely question for me. My internet service went out yesterday afternoon & did not come back up till 5am today. It affected a huge swath of folks, not just me. I am embarrassed to say I was lost without it! However, I did manage just fine. I was able to take care of many other things & started a new book last night. I wasn’t distracted. It actually was quite nice being able to quiet my addiction to my phone/internet! 😊
    And this morning many sites this one included had “cloud flare” issues!
    I am incredibly thankful to all the men & women who restored my internet service. Thank you. 🙏🏻
    🕊️♥️

    1. sparrow51014
      sparrow
      2 weeks ago

      ”I am incredibly thankful to all the men & women who restored my internet service. Thank you.”

      I am too,
      dear PKR . . . ♥

  8. Carol Ann Conner
    Carol Ann Conner
    2 weeks ago

    I have lights, I have Internet, I have heat. Yesterday, I was thankful for Urgent Care and their kindness plus the medicine they ordered, the druggist who filled the order, the company who makes the medicine and on and on. This morning I ate an apple thanks to an orchard somewhere, a hand that planted the tree, the tree that bore it, a worker that picked it, a driver that brought it to my area and on and on so I could bite into it.Yes, thanks for the reminder that we are interdependent. There need be no Us and Them.

    MYSELF
    I sat there in awe as the old Monk answered our questions. Thou I’m usually shy, I felt so comfortable in his presence that I found myself raising my hand. “Father, could you tell us something about yourself?”
    He leaned back, “Myself” he mused. There was a long pause.
    “My Name…
    Used to be…
    Me
    But now…
    It’s You.””
    Tales of a Magic Monastery by Theophane the Monk pp. 18

    1. Cathie
      Cathie
      2 weeks ago

      That is one of my favorite books, what a sense of wonder and humor-thank you for reminding me as I haven’t picked it up in a while📖💕

    2. sparrow51014
      sparrow
      2 weeks ago

      ps. I hope you are feeling better,
      dear Carol Ann . . . ♥

    3. pkr29022
      pkr
      2 weeks ago

      Hope you feel better Carol Ann. 🤗🙏🏻

      1. Carol Ann Conner
        Carol Ann Conner
        2 weeks ago

        PKR, Thanks

  9. D
    Drea
    2 weeks ago

    Farmers grew my coffee, someone flew the beans from storage to roaster. Someone roasted the beans, packaged them, and shipped them to me. Someone flew the plane or drove the truck to get them here. Electric company workers made sure the electricity was one and fixed any faults. Water company workers make sure that clean water came through the tap. Trash folks picked up the garbage. Someone fixed the Cloudfare outage so I could access this site. So many things! Thank you, people who work hard to make sure I can have access to so many things.

    1. sparrow51014
      sparrow
      2 weeks ago

      ”Someone fixed the Cloudfare outage so I could access this site.”

      Yes,
      dear Drea . ..
      someone fixed it for me as well. 🙂

      1. Patti
        sunnypatti
        2 weeks ago

        Me, too 🙋🏼‍♀️

        1. Michele
          Michele
          2 weeks ago

          Me four, lol

  10. Yram
    Yram
    2 weeks ago

    I can’t think of one thing that I have used this a.m. that I have not relied on a stranger. What can I really do by myself?

    1. Barb C
      Barb C
      2 weeks ago

      I was thinking much the same thing. I’m on a work trip at a conference. Everything about how I got here, how the conference is running, where I sleep, eat, get coffee, go to the bathroom, it’s almost all prepared by strangers except for the pieces done by the staff I know with this organization. Grateful for all of them!

    2. Carol Ann Conner
      Carol Ann Conner
      2 weeks ago

      Well said…

  11. S R
    Kansha
    2 weeks ago

    Services that a stranger already provided for me today – my creator and diviner in me though he is not a stranger to me but he has made get up and allow me to be aware and attune to every moment, the internet services workers, the people who design the websites, the person who wrote the question, those who give to grateful.org and work behind the science that I may be blessed and the inventors and visionaries like Br. David Steiner-Rast, and other organizations that I used to make it possible to participate, the outfit I am wearing, the Native American people who sacrifice their lives and cultures, the founding people of this country though some of their actions were not ethical, my ancestors and people who sacrifice that I may have what I have today, ….

  12. Avril
    Avril
    2 weeks ago

    Indirectly so many things—they made the furniture, they grew the food, they built the house. I’ll engage with strangers in my commute and at work. Maybe someone will let me pull out or hold a door for me. I look forward to being attentive to these serendipitous interactions. .

  13. Michele
    Michele
    2 weeks ago

    I just made my morning coffee – so whomever made the coffee and the peppermint mocha creamer that went in it too 🙂
    My electric, water, house, clothes, eyeglasses

    1. Carol Ann Conner
      Carol Ann Conner
      2 weeks ago

      Michele, After a visit to a laundromat to wash a huge comforter, I came home and kissed my washer! I saw so many Mom’s there washing a week’s worth of clothes for their kids. Every color in the rainbow in the same load because a 60 lb. front loader costs about $10. I saw a young woman who works there sweeping floors and wiping out washers and dryers and I wondered what does she make an hour and will her life circumstances provide her with the chance to advance to a better job. I think it was extremely helpful for me to walk, if only for a brief time, in someone else’s shoes. Even though I came up the hard way and my Mom took in other folks laundries during WWII, we did have an old ringer washer swishing away everyday. How does one raise kids without a washing machine??? And water for that matter. It’s becoming a rare commodity that we seem to constantly waste. When I take my walk, I’m tempted to turn off people’s sprinklers. Oh my goodness! This is turning into a tirade!!!

      1. Michele
        Michele
        2 weeks ago

        my one daughter has to go and use a laundromat and she was saying how expensive it is, so yes, very grateful for our washing machines and dryers. I’m sure there are some who do it the old fashioned way somewhere. Picture a world with no clothes and everyone is naked, LOL

        1. Carol Ann Conner
          Carol Ann Conner
          2 weeks ago

          Michele, ” Picture a world with no clothes and everyone is naked, LOL” I think Scripture calls that Paradise! You are such a joy and breath of fresh air/spirit each morning. Thank you so much for being here!

  14. Laura
    Laura
    2 weeks ago

    Truck drivers who delivered my tea bags and bread to the store where I bought them. Engineers who designed the phone in my hands. Other engineers who maintain the local water system. The list could go on and on.

  15. Joseph
    Joseph McCann
    2 weeks ago

    The time in which I am alive is a time of such interdependence. The surge of human population after the industrial revolution, along with better hygiene, health, less infant mortality do to cleaner running water and improved sanitation, more abundant food sources because of improved transportation, only occurred due to the services of strangers. As a species we could survive physically without the many luxuries, myriad of choices available in our western world. Many other of our brothers and sister do just that. The advances have been both good and bad. Just as joy and sorrow. The supply chain issues after covid and the clear skies over cities, India for a dramatic example, are a demonstration of the good and bad. Joy and sorrow. Peace, Love and may all have enough.

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