Thankful for Work

"What?! Did you just say ... 'work'?"
Yup, I just said work.
I don't necessarily mean that thing that we do for money (but that very well might be included), rather I refer to the opportunities to practice a "Craft" or a "Trade." I give thanks for the ability to become engaged in the creative process, big or small. Maybe this process allows us to form a livelihood, maybe it is just a creative outlet, in either case it can unite us with the Living and Active Creative Force of the Cosmos.
Have you ever had those moments in time in which you become so absorbed in the "craft" you are doing that time "disappears"? "I'll just give it another five minutes," you tell yourself, but the next time you look at the clock hours have passed. That's what I mean. And that is a form of meditation, a form of mindfulness.
Jill Dickin Schinas writes of their building Mollymawk in this manner ("Zen and the Art of Boat Building"). However, I remain convinced that any activity done in a mindful (dare I say compassionate) manner opens us up to prayer, to the Divine. Martin Luther once commented that even changing your child's diapers can open us to the Divine. Obviously any task at hand can then be a form of meditation.  And that is always a reason to give thanks.
May you continue to find moments of mindfulness throughout your days.
Blessed be,
Joel