Practical spirituality
for real life

Is it possible to be so present to each moment that gratitude becomes our natural way of being? What if we could be grateful without having to stop and ask, “What am I grateful for?” Could our gratitude practice become as natural as breathing, where the only time we consciously think about it is when something feels off?

The practice of expanding our consciousness begins when we shift our attention from what’s missing to what’s already here. This week, we’ll explore how to move beyond the journal and into a deeper awareness of the good that is present in each moment, until gratitude becomes more than a practice. It becomes a way of living.

Rev. Jill Clements

You’ve probably heard the clichés: “What we focus on expands,” “Where attention goes, energy flows,” and “What we think about comes about.” You get the gist… These are all ways of understanding and remembering the Law of Increase, the spiritual principle that what we give our attention to tends to grow in our experience.

This week, we’ll be exploring the many ways we’re already using this Law, often without even realizing it. And we may just discover some new ways to consciously harness its power and bring greater awareness to what we’re choosing to increase in our experience.

Rev. Jill Clements
Live Music with Jennifer Sheets
Fall Potluck Picnic in the Courtyard

It’s easy to say, “I’m grateful for my relationships,” but does the way I treat people demonstrate that gratitude? To live gratefully, we have to take gratitude out of our heads and make it a way of living. The Spiritual Practice of Gratitude becomes more than something we feel or say, it becomes something we embody.

Building on our October discussion of living in alignment with our thoughts, words and actions, we’ll deepen our understanding of this key to living successfully from the inside out. When our gratitude moves into action, we show up differently. We listen differently. We respond differently and we engage with life differently. And that is the foundation of our New Design for Life, not simply thinking about the life we want, but consciously becoming the person who lives it.  

Rev. Jill Clements

What is the difference between being thankful and being grateful? 

As we prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday, we’ll open our hearts to the deeper experience of what happens when gratitude moves beyond something we feel or think and becomes something we consciously express.

This week, we’ll shift from awareness to expression and discover how transforming gratitude into thanksgiving can shift our consciousness and create a richer experience for our holiday celebration.  Because Thanksgiving doesn’t have to be just a day on the calendar, it can become a way of living.

Rev. Jill Clements
Deck the Halls decorating party: 1:00 Friday, November 27th

Did you know that you’re an artist? Each of us is and we are constantly designing our lives, one thought at a time. Like an architect envisions a building before he begins to draw it, we begin creating our lives in consciousness long before we see results.

The practice of gratitude transforms the questions we ask ourselves from “What’s wrong? What do I need to fix? And What is missing?” to “What is already good. What do I want to create? Where can I share my gifts and, who do I want to become?”

As the artist of our lives, we must first see in our mind the life we desire to create before it can ever become form.  Michealangelo saw David in the block of marble way before he began to carve.  What are you seeing in your mind, what are you envisioning for your life?   Are you seeing through the lens of gratitude?

Rev. Jill Clements