As we move toward the “Great American Solar Eclipse”on August 21, we are reminded by those who study astrology that solar eclipses signal endings and beginnings, and tend to be accompanied by significant world events. In these challenging times, with the news so filled with fear, dissent, and violence, it’s good to remember that we each can play a role in promoting peace … both within ourselves and also around us.
David Steindl-Rast’s recommends these 5 small gestures of gratitude to counteract fear and violence in his essay “A Vision for the World”:
- Say one word today that will give a fearful person courage.
- Make a firm resolution never to repeat stories and rumors that spread fear.
- Make contact with people whom you normally ignore.
- Give someone an unexpected smile today.
- Listen to the news today and put at least one item to the test of Common Sense (which he defines as “cosmic intelligence”).
David Steindl-Rast explains that “gratefulness is more than giving thanks. Thanking comes with thinking. Gratefulness happens before thinking … It is the spontaneous response of the human heart … Gratitude is thinking in tune with the cosmic intelligence that inspires us in grateful moments.” Steindl-Rast further explains that “… if you’re grateful, you’re not fearful, and if you’re not fearful, you’re not violent. If you’re grateful, you act out of a sense of enough and not of a sense of scarcity, and you are willing to share. If you are grateful, you are enjoying the differences between people, and you are respectful to everybody, and that changes this power pyramid under which we live.” May it be so … and for more inspiration, enjoy Nimo’s “Grateful”.