Shekhinah, thank you...

Shekhinah, thank you for blessing this day

Shekhinah, thank you for blessing this day

Shekhinah, thank you for blessing all we do and all we say

Thank you for blessing this day

I had lunch on Saturday with a woman whose passion is gratitude.  As we ate our tomato and mozzarella sandwiches, our apples, and our heart-shaped sugar cookies covered with pink sprinkles, we talked about everything we had learned so far at the women's spirituality conference we were both attending at the Washington National Cathedral.  We talked about the families we had left back home - hers in California, and mine in Mississippi - and how we wrestled with making decisions about what is best for our children's education.  Together we walked down to the cathedral bookstore where she pointed out the chocolate gargoyles that were the perfect souvenir for eight-year-olds.

We parted ways somewhere in the devotional reading section, and it wasn't until I wandered over to the display of books set aside for our conference that I realized I had been eating and talking with one of the workshop leaders for the weekend.  M.J. Ryan's books teach that gratitude tills the ground in which happiness grows, and I am certainly grateful for the opportunity to have met her.

I am grateful, also, to have been wearing when I met her the palindrome scarf I finished just the day before.  It was only just barely cold enough to wear the scarf while we were in D.C., and much too warm to wear it now that I'm back home in Mississippi.  So our tulip tree is doing the honors, her purple petals wrapped in golden green cables.

I am grateful for our tulip tree, who bravely withstood tornado damage last spring and is blooming for all she's worth!

At one of the workshops I attended this weekend, I learned from Holly Taye Shere a beautiful Jewish prayer to Shekhinah, a feminine Hebrew word for the presence of God.  I am grateful...

Shekhinah, thank you for blessing this day

Shekhinah, thank you for blessing this day

Shekhinah, thank you for blessing where we go and where we stay

Thank you for blessing this day