This past week I received a letter from Douglas Wood, the author of such wonderful books as Old Turtle and Granddad’s Prayers of the Earth. I have been a fan for some time and we have invited him to be our guest at Hennepin Church on October 9th of this year. He was confirming with me the details of the day and sending along a contract. Tucked inside the envelope was also a bookmark sized paper that had a list of suggestions on ‘How to be a Writer.’ As I read the list I was filled with laughter, with a sense of hope and even a glint of tears.

I have read this list over and over in the last few days. I shared it as a devotional with our staff on Tuesday. The list includes things like…..Wake up….Attend sunrises….Skinny dip….Pack light….Learn to stop stepping on rakes….Notice how unusual everything is….Do the thing you fear…..and on and on. At one point I actually decided I would adopt one thing per day to focus on and see where it might take me.

Of course, I do want to be a writer so I welcome any ‘how-to’s’ successful folks like Wood can offer. But mostly I realized these suggestions were equally as helpful in how to just be a good human being, a good ‘I love this life’ kind of human being. Which is what, if I am honest, is what I want to be most of all.

So on Tuesday I took up this suggestion: ‘Know that The News is not the world.’ This one came in quite handy given the crazy making news coming at us fast and furious from any number of media sources. Listening to the reports of greed and corruption in England, I reminded myself of the gentle, gracious, fun-loving people I have met in that lovely country. I thought of the waves of God’s Presence that have washed over me as I have walked the emerald green countryside and rocky beaches. I remembered the healing power of stone circles and groves of trees that connected me with ancient wisdom that transcends the momentary flourish of powerful people behaving badly. This is the world. I felt blessed to be reminded.

Tomorrow I plan to take up another point on the list: ‘Thank everything that’s thank-able’. I have been thinking about it all afternoon, planning my strategy. And here is the rub-what isn’t thank-able? When I wake up in the morning, a thanks goes to the bed that housed me and the light that greeted my waking. A huge debt of gratitude to my feet and legs that hit the floor, oh yes, the floor that is but one in the home I love. Thanks for being the nest that I get to fluff day in and day out. Down the stairs to put on the tea pot….that’s filled with clean water I needed only to turn on and place on a fire that was mine at the flip of switch. My heart overflows with gratitude.

But I am getting ahead of myself. If you are out and about the Twin Cities tomorrow and see a woman roaming the streets speaking thanks to stoplights and construction workers, smiling at orange-faced daylilies or geese swimming by, be kind. I am busy giving thanks.