But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
In my day-to-day experiences, I find so many souls grieving. It almost seems like they are attracted to me in some strange way. As I have been grieving for over seventy-seven years, I must be some sort of authority on this deep emotional and spiritual reality of life. As I have navigated over eight decades of grief, I have experienced ever deepening understanding of how to experience grieving in a positive way, one that doesn’t steal away my peace and comfort. Therefore, I am very sensitive and observant to catch little and sometimes subtle revelations of positive touchstones for grieving more rewardingly.
My other articles on grieving within this blog attest to numerous of these discoveries. It’s also comforting to note that learning how to grieve with positivity enables us to be a blessing for others, helping them to discover what we have learned.
My latest revelation came as I scrolled through social media and came across this beauty.
This is one of those moments when two critical truths intersect. I have a passionate appreciation for gratitude and its power to transform one’s thinking and perspective. When my eyes first fell upon the words in this picture I immediately thought of grieving. That’s because I have found that we can find joy, yes JOY, in grieving. (See Grieving V in this blog for more on grieving with joy)
This statement “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others” immediately recalled the fruit of the Spirit. What greater virtues exist other than the fruit of the Spirit? Gratitude surely is the most powerful when it is the first thing in heart and mind when we begin a new day or when life’s challenges become overwhelming to steal our ability to sleep. Gratitude is potentially the solution to all negativity in our life including grieving. One might say that gratitude is the arch enemy of chronic pessimism.
I urge you to explore how you have experienced gratitude as it opened for you a grip on the other fruit of the Spirit. I invite you to share them with me and my readers.
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Turning Points
With all the negative publicity on the evils of social media, I find it a positive thing when such goodness can come from posts such as the one in this article. For me it is a turning point in seeing another benefit of gratitude.
I love the phrase “may their memory be a blessing”. It gives us a chance to be grateful for knowing a person when we grieve.