Lesson from the Spirit

"To give thanks for everything means to receive nothing."
"I don't understand."
"When you walk along a smooth road, you don't look back; you simply walk, seeing your route. It's like a skill honed with each step, giving you confidence in your pace.
You just walk, noticing nothing, as if carrying out a task set by someone else, but not by you."
"Help me, I don't understand."
"How much goodness do you notice in this world when you rush along your road with your eyes and ears shut?"

He shows a person racing down the road while all the trees and houses blur around him; he sees nothing, he just rushes forward.

"Like a negligent pupil, late for class.
You fail to notice not only what happens around you, but also what comes from within, from yourself. It's so easy not to notice. Just walk with your gaze fixed somewhere. You think arriving is your goal, but you are mistaken. For the path is what matters.
Notice the good that exists in your life, again and again, and give thanks.
For every moment, for every manifestation of miracle in your visible field.
Only then will you truly learn to see and hear the world that whispers to you, and at times shouts.
And then, filling each day with gratitude for the beautiful things you have noticed in your life, you will be amazed at how wide your road will open, what extraordinary light will fill it, with what illuminations you will blaze in your awareness of the greatness the Creator gives you."

Now the person walks slowly, pausing, studying, smiling. He bows, he gives thanks, and walks on. Before him opens a whole field, flooded with sunlight. It is so beautiful. One vast space, filled with love and serenity.