Lord
Let the details in life take my attention today
A warm mug of tea
The gentle grass under my feet
And the chance just to gather and eat
O Lord
Let the everyday pleasures ring out melodies in my heart
The smile of a friend
A warm comfy bed
The sunlight on the trees and walks in the park
O Lord
Let the more ordinary reveal its amazing delight
Clouds drifting by
Birds sweeping high
The sunset that transforms day into night
Lord
May these things inspire me to praise
And bring a clear moment of sight
Now I see how amazing the world truly is
And soak in Your goodness and light.
 
-www.lords-prayer-words.com
 
A cool, river of water splashed from the garden hose I held in my hand into the dark, plastic interior of the garbage can. I leaned in and scrubbed vigorously with my long-handled scrub brush and listened to the cars whizzing by on the street in front of my home.

I felt grateful. Grateful that I wasn’t rushing off somewhere on this perfect Fall morning. Grateful that I was outside, breathing air smelling fresh with early morning. Grateful that my bare feet tingled with the cool of the long, wet grass. Grateful that I had time for so lowly a chore, the kind of job that is generally put off in favor of more important things.

I wondered if the drivers of those cars envied me puttering in my yard. More likely, they felt grateful that they had somewhere to go and could put off chores like washing garbage cans indefinitely!

I hoped they felt grateful for what they were doing this morning.

Because it doesn't matter whether we are washing garbage cans or whizzing along in our cars, what matters is how we perceive what we are doing. It is how we feel about the things that we spend our time on that determines the experience we have, and gratitude is the game-changer.
 
Photo by Joel Overbeck on Unsplash

"Our souls crave the quality of sweetness for that is the taste of love."
-Author unknown 

Once upon a time there was a queen named Dulcie. Queen Dulcie lived in a grand palace. She had a maid servant, an upstairs maid and a downstairs maid. She even had three pastry chefs. You see Dulcie liked sweets. Maybe it was her name which means sweet.

Even though she had so much, Dulcie was not happy. But eating sweet things made Dulcie feel happy for a little while, and that was better than nothing. The trouble was eating sweets would not make her happy for long. 

Queen Dulcie subscribed to 10 different gourmet magazines specializing in pastries and sweets. These she would pour over, clipping pictures and recipes which she would hand to her maid servant who would give them to the upstairs maid, who would pass them on to the downstairs maid who would trot them down to the kitchens to be prepared immediately.

The Queen could have any sweet she desired but still she couldn’t feel happy for more than a short while. It got so that as she stuffed herself with penuche and praline frozen cream bombe alternating bites with strawberry-raspberry sugared tart, her mind was planning out the next smorgasbord of rainbow-hued desserts.

Queen Dulcie demanded more and more. She thought that if she could just find the perfect dessert that she would feel happy and stay happy, so she sat with her piles of magazines and flipped through one glorious, glossy page after another looking for the one dessert that would make her happy. She always thought that the next one would do it, but it never did.
    
Finally, sitting on the floor, surrounded by towering stacks of magazines and the empty, chocolate-streaked plate from her last chocolate chip-apricot torte, Dulcie gave up. Her maid servant came running in and tried to coax her to rummage once again through the pages to find another dessert. Dulcie only shook her head. Her maid servant grabbed a magazine, and opened it to a sumptuous looking towering confection and held it up before the Queen, looking at her hopefully. Dulcie turned her face away. The maid servant ran all the way down to the kitchens to have all three chefs bring their most delicious creations before the Queen. Dulcie closed her eyes and shooed them away with her hands.

For days Queen Dulcie just sat staring out the window. Her maid servant cared for her silently, even offering her a magazine once or twice. The Queen never moved. The pastry chefs lolled about the kitchens playing tiddlywinks and jacks and took long naps in the afternoons.

Then one morning as Dulcie looked out the window, the sparkling sun shining through the leaves of the trees outside called to her. She left her room to go into the garden. The air was filled with a beautiful, sweet scent and a warm breeze caressed her cheek. She took in a deep breath of the sweet air and felt a stirring in her heart. Queen Dulcie sat down on the sun-warmed stone bench in front of the water fountain, surrounded by flowering purple lilacs and fragrant white viburnum, sunny-yellow daffodils and gorgeous red and pink tulips. The sun felt warm on her face. She closed her eyes and savored the comforting feeling it gave her. She listened to the water trickling deliciously in the fountain and let its melody soothe her. She breathed deep and tasted the sweetness of the lilac and flowering viburnum all the way back in her throat. She opened her eyes and swallowed the deep reds and bright pinks and yellows of the masses of tulips and daffodils spread out at her feet. Queen Dulcie smiled.

Her maid servant saw her queen smile and rushed to the kitchens. The chef’s bustled about creating delicious desserts, and paraded them out to the garden to offer them to their queen.

Queen Dulcie looked up to see them approaching grandly across the lawn toward her, beautiful platters of desserts in their hands. She gazed upon their hopeful, flour-dusted faces. She savored the sweetness of having such devoted and caring people on her staff.
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Dulcie smiled at each one as they stopped in front of her and offered her their finest creations. One at a time the Queen tasted each delicious confection with a single bite. She closed her eyes that she might better focus on the delightful flavors, then put her spoon down and smiled. Dulcie was happy.

©Holly Hildreth 2018

Photo from Marie Antoinette directed by Sofia Coppola