Autumn Day

Oct. 11, 2014

Today I’m grateful to be in the mountains soaking up the crisp air, scented with pine and drenched with freshness. The brilliant yellows, which are all that remain of fall’s colors for this year, look startlingly like flames set against a cerulean sky or the deep emerald of surrounding evergreens. 

This is the time of year that makes me long to live again in the mountain West. I love, love, love Fall. I'm not sure what Zen is, but I'm thinking maybe that's what I feel when I sit cloaked in the glorious blanket of autumn, because I can't conjure words that convey the alive-ness I feel in the Fall. It's cozy and comfortable and refreshing; it's warmth, inherent in fall-cooking spices and campfire smoke, and all things Fall.

It's spiritual - it's reverence for the sheer beauty and for the Creator, who in His loving-kindness created something like this at the end of every wearyingly hot summer. As I write, I can feel my body and mind settle just hearing the river rushing by; the rain on the roof adds to the water Chi. Aside from the river, it's absolutely quiet and still. Thank thee, Heavenly Father, for making this!

Day of Rest

Sunday, Aug. 31, 2014

Today I'm thankful for the commandment to take one day a week and rest from the labors of all the other days and spend time in gratitude for all that the Creator gives me and does for me. It's like a rest between workout sets; it's like stopping the shallow breathing of busy-ness to inhale deeply and exhale slowly; it's like pouring rich, substantive cream into my cup of weak, thin worldliness, and when mixed together, the worldly things become less shallow and more delicious because of the spiritual awareness that they are divine creations. What a loving and wise Father our God is to give us such a day!

I'm thankful that I can meet and mingle with people who share my beliefs and who try to live Christ's example and help me try to live it. I'm thankful for people who prayerfully prepare lessons and messages that give me the spiritual nourishment I need for another week in the world - and that I can come back in 7 days for more. 

I'm thankful for Christ's atonement, that my sins may be forgiven if I repent, that my body will overcome death, be perfected and reunited with my spirit, and that I may live forever with my family and dear friends in a place where there is no evil, sickness or sadness. 

Indeed, thanks for the Sabbath Day!