A Thousand Gratitudes
Poetry. Sometime in the 1980's, I first read Dom Helder Camara's A Thousand Reasons for Living. It became one of a very few volumes I have revisited over and over again throughout my life. The book is a collection of the Brazilian priest's most intimate reflections about the world around him and God's presence in it--simple, short poems that were written as part of his daily practice of prayer and conversation with God. For many years, I have wanted to write my own version of Helder Camara's book. Now, forty years later, A THOIUSAND GRATITUDES is, for me, that book. While I make no pretenses to the archbishop's powerful insight, deep faith, or disciplined spiritual life, the poems in this volume come, in similar fashion, out of my own spiritual practice of prayer and journaling, which I have sustained throughout the second half of my life. Most of the poems are short. They tell the everyday stories of an ordinary life, evoking images of marriage, family, the church, ministry, the mountains, the water, illness, love, loss, and more. They are presented here in mostly chronological order, because that's the way they were written, day by day, as part of a life with God. I have understood my vocation, both the public one as preacher/pastor/theologian and the personal one as poet/believer/seeker, as that of a wordsmith. This volume is a collection of some of the best words I have to pass along to my children and grandchildren, and to others who are drawn to find the spiritual path in daily life. Writing poetry has been my way of paying attention to the world around me, of making sense of my own experiences, of wrestling with spiritual life and practice. It's how I stay anchored in gratitude, hope, and joy. It is my prayer these poems will offer you similar encouragement to live grateful, hopeful, joyful lives.--Marney Ault Wasserman
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