May
8
Accosted by Omens of Gratitude
From my private journal, an entry on gratitude dated April 19th 2010.
My commute involves walking through Ebisu Garden Place, a plaza on a hill flanked by an office building and an upscale shopping center. There is a covered skywalk that leads from the plaza, which is at the top of a hill, to the 3rd floor of the station building, which is toward the bottom of the hill. The walkway has moving sidewalks of the kind that are often seen at airports, and these cut the walk from eight down to about five minutes. The convenience of this means that just about anyone going to and from the station goes through the skywalk.
This day, I was walking through the skywalk on my commute, and I see a man coming from the station with sunglasses and a cane sweeping the area in front of him. How glad I am that I have eyes that see, I thought.
Halfway through the walkway, I see a man coming from the station who has no arms. How glad I am that I can carry my briefcase with my hands, I thought.
With just a little of the walkway left, I pass a man coming from the station wheeling himself forward on a wheelchair. How glad I am that I can walk, I thought.
The previous pastor at Daikanyama Church would end services every Sunday with a prayer saying “Let us not use our gifts for weapons or conflict, but for happiness and peace.” That particular Monday, I looked and became aware of looking, I held my briefcase and became aware of my hands, and I walked, and became aware of my feet. I took a deep breath and thought of how this prayer of thanks had been a completely physical experience – did you realize it’s possible to pray by feeling it in your body, without using words? And I thought these are the most physically capable years of my life. As I begin to further learn to appreciate my gifts, what is the best way to use them? I pray for guidance.
