Empowering Gratitude in My Life

Rev. Dr. Stephen Albert of All Faith Center in Poway, answers our question:

What is the blessing that most inspires your gratitude this year and in what does it teach you about your ability to co-create a more awakened society?

"I received the email this morning inviting me to submit my insights about which blessing inspires my gratitude this year. My first reaction was NOTHING. Over the past few months I turned 70, my younger brother died, a close ministerial friend, also younger than me, died, I will receive my first hearing aids tonight, and due to scheduling, I have not received an offer to teach a class at the University since July. My sciatica is acting up and, overall, I realize I am in a funk.

My spiritual teaching tells me that I create my world by the thoughts that I think. Reviewing that teaching, inspired me to examine what I am creating and what I AM grateful for. Prior to my brother’s heart attack, I had just completed running an interfaith conference which awakened over 250 people from over 20 faiths. I had awakened most of the city mayors in San Diego County to see everyone in their city as equal. This past week I addressed over 400 people at our local Interfaith Thanksgiving Service and thanked them for “Lifting Me (and others) Up” to higher levels of consciousness to become more than I felt I (and they) could be. God has given me a wife who supports me and loves me, we live a free and wonderful life and I awoke this morning to accept God’s blessings.

I realize that it is easy to focus on the negative situations around the world, bad politicians, unfathomable killings, hatred and the plight of the poor and hungry. It is also easy to complain about a sore shoulder, a bad back, and a variety of things which pop up to tell you “You’re Alive.” So I am grateful to the Association for Global New Thought for having awakened me this morning to my ability to co-create a more awakened society in the midst of my own personal “stuff.” Ahhhhh, the Sun is out!"