5-4-3-2-1

Daily Devotion - May 23

I will send a brief message each day 

(except Monday) while we are pausing gathering in person.
- Kara

The world smells magical in Minnesota right now. Lilacs and Lily of the Valley and lots of other flowers and plants I don't know the name of permeate the air with boldness. To walk around my neighborhood is to pass through one scentscape after another.  And the colors, everywhere you look, are vivid: vibrant greens below and above, and flashy flowers left and right.  The earth feels alive and joyful.

The world sounds magical too. The birds are loud and busy.  We've opened our windows, so right now, in addition to the raucous birds, I am hearing the neighbor playing scales on the clarinet, a lawn being mowed, a dog barking in the distance, and Andy chatting to the neighbor over the fence.

Some moments are hard. For me, most of this morning was hard.  But some moments feel easy. And this one right now, that smells like joy and sounds like summer, is a gift. 

This is reminding me of a common practice meant to help deal with anxiety, but which can also help ground us again in our life, and let us experience gratitude for what is - or at least notice what is so we can receive it.  

It's called 5-4-3-2-1.  It goes like this:

 

5: Acknowledge FIVE things you see around you. 
Say them to yourself, "I see my window frame. I see the tree outside the window..."

4: Acknowledge FOUR things you can touch around you. 
Your hair, the texture of your chair, your feet on the ground, the table in front of you...

3: Acknowledge THREE things you hear. 

The refrigerator humming, your stomach growling, the dog scratching, a child laughing...

2: Acknowledge TWO things you can smell.
What smells are right around you? Or go somewhere with more scents - smell soap in your bathroom, or step outside and sniff the Spring air.

1: Acknowledge ONE thing you can taste.
What does the inside of your mouth taste like—coffee, or the sandwich from lunch?

In the hard moments, this is available to us, grounding us again and letting us be receptive to God's presence with us in the moment. But it's also available to us in the easy moments, when we want to truly receive and not overlook the gifts right here and now.


CONNECTING RITUAL:

Perhaps tonight before bed, whatever time that is in each of our homes, we and so join our souls with each other and the people of the whole earth:

A prayer of gratitude, using 5-4-3-2-1 in retrospect:

God, thank you for this day,
come and gone,
the only May 23, 2020 I'll ever have.
For five things I saw today...  I thank you.
For four things I touched today... I thank you.
For three things I heard today... I thank you.
For two things I smelled today...  I thank you.
For one thing I tasted today... I thank you.
Thank you for your company today,
in what I saw, touched, heard, smelled and tasted,

I thank you.
Rest my soul this night,
and ready me for tomorrow.
Amen.