Gratitude Let me be thankful every moment of every day And not just for a few moments on Thanksgiving Day In this world, full of pain, horror, love and courageousness Somewhere someone is tortured and hunted while I am free of fear Their suffering is as deep as the darkest chasm Somewhere someone is without is without the food, medicine, shelter that have surrounded me They waste and die in pain and hunger that I've never known Somewhere someone has never been cared for as I have been cared for They were parented by abandonment, neglect, and mistrust while I was protected and instructed by selflessness Somewhere someone has given up hope of the rescue that I have never needed They are desperate but sure that no one will hear their call In a realm of barren loneliness Let me remember the plight of the unfortunate Let me remember the confusion of the lost Let me remember the power of my fortune Let me share it with the world And when misfortune finds me Let me be thankful for the wonders of my life When I am sad or afraid let me be truly so and not indulgent in self-pity Let me remember the faces of those that have loved me Let me remember the gifts born of true love Let me remember that I was lucky In a world where love is precious And if I am truly wretched And I find that all hope has abandoned me And all my friends are gone And every moment is measured in pain Let me remember That in my heart There is an eternal spark of love And that I saw it and accepted it And I saw that love and gratitude Are one and the same By Dudley Jackson March/April 2008 Offered respectfully for the 21st Parinirvana of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche