St Margaret's News July 2015 | Page 3

The Practice of Gratitude On 13 June, fourteen people from St Margaret’s and from St James in Curtin gathered together for a day-long retreat led by Rev Chris Lockley at the Silver Wattle Quaker Centre on the dry shores of Lake George for a Gratitude Retreat. It was a great day, for which all participants were grateful. Chris encouraged participants to practise gratitude and to live thankfully. Ideas that he shared included:     keeping a journal in which you record gratitude. He told us about Rabbi Baruch Spinoza, one of the earliest advocates of a daily gratitude practice. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza). adding water to a gratitude glass every time we felt gratitude. expressing gratitude - such as by writing letters to writes or teachers whose work had touched us. Beginning each new activity by saying a brief grace expressing thanks for what we are about to experience. Chris provided participants with some excellent resource material and utilised some additional excellent audio, visual and written resources throughout the day. They included the video “Grateful” and the song “Grateful Heart” by Trisha Watts. You might like to explore Trisha Heath Schneider's board "With a GRATEFUL Heart" on Pinterest, a visual bookmarking tool that helps you discover and save creative ideas: https://www.pinterest.com/trishiepink/with-a-grateful-heart/. There were opportunities for shared conversation and walks with other participants, as well as shared refreshments provided by our hosts. After a foggy start to the day, which meant all our cars collected very muddy exteriors on the dirt road into the venue, the day was fine although chilly. We were grateful for the blankets provided by the venue and the nourishing food and hot drinks. Photos by Brian Rope St Margaret's News 3 July 2015