gratitude

yesterday, it was hard to sit still while i ate my lunch.

i was nearly overwhelmed with gratitude.

i was raised to say grace, so while i often consider those who are poor and/or hungry when i eat my meals, this is probably the first time i was grateful for the actual act of eating.

the texture of the food...
the smells...
chewing...more texture, more tastes....

easing it down my throat, knowing it would give me strength to go on with the rest of the day.

in the wake of the sheer loss of life in ayiti, i became acutely aware of the gift of possessing spirit AND flesh, and the gifts inherent in that.

spirit lives all around us, protects and blesses us. but it is an honor and a privilege to be in the flesh. to feel, to love, to work, to BE.

...and to eat.

our diverse shades, shapes, abilities and ways of being are all gifts.

if you are here, breathing, owning consciousness, living, you are saved. don't let anybody tell you different.

In the silence that followed, Baby Suggs, holy, offered up to them her great big heart…“Here,” she said, “in this here place, we flesh; flesh that weeps, laughs; flesh that dances on bare feet in grass. Love it. Love it hard. Yonder they do not love your flesh. They despise it…No more do they love the skin on your back. Yonder they flay it. And O my people they do not love your hands. Those they only use, tie, bind, chop off and leave empty. Love your hands! Love them! Raise them up and kiss them. Touch others with them, pat them together, stroke them on your face ‘cause they don’t love that either. You got to love it, you! And no, they ain’t in love with your mouth. Yonder, out there, they will see it broken and break it again.What you say out of it they will not heed…What you put into it to nourish your body they will snatch away and give leavins instead. No they don’t love your mouth. You got to love it.

~from toni morrison's beloved