I Awaken Before Dawn, by Helen Moore

Nov-23-2015
Me despierto antes del Amanecer
--por Helen Moore

Me despierto antes del amanecer, voy a la cocina y me preparo una taza de té. Enciendo la vela y me siento bajo su resplandor en mi cojín de meditación. Cojo mi taza con las dos manos, la levanto hacia mi Señor y doy gracias. La sensación de la taza contra mis palmas me trae a la mente al alfarero y ofrezco una bendición por sus manos.
Doy gracias por la arcilla, la cerámica y el horno. Doy un sorbo y sigo la calidez a través de mi cuerpo. Ofrezco una bendición por los que trajeron la electricidad a mi casa, quien cavó las zanjas para la red, quien construyó mi casa y puso los cables, quien hizo mi tetera y me trajo el agua para rellenarla.
Tomo un sorbo y bendigo a la gente de India o China que cultivó el té, lo plantó, recogió y secó las hojas, lo llevó al mercado, y lo manejó durante las muchas transacciones hasta que llegó a mi casa. Tomo un sorbo y bendigo a esa gente de Florida, California o América Central que plantó el árbol que floreció.
Doy gracias por la calidez del sol y la lluvia que hizo que las flores se convirtiesen en limones, y bendigo las manos que recogieron la fruta, la eligieron, la tocaron en su viaje de la huerta a mi mesa. Doy otro sorbo y bendigo las manos de los que proveyeron el azúcar que endulzó el té, cosecharon la caña, la procesaron, lo embolsaron y lo enviaron de esta manera hasta mi.
Tomo otro sorbo y levanto mi taza con gratitud cuando siento la interconexión de mi cuerpo ahora con los suyos, mi sangre ahora con la suya, mis huesos ahora con los suyos, y mi corazón se llena de amor por toda la creación.
Doy gracias.

Helen Moore enseña yoga con mente, cuerpo y espíritu, con una actitud de gratitud. Vive una vida simple en Lexington, Virginia con sus dos perros pequeños, que la asombran con su capacidad de amar y de compasión cada día.

Helen Moore teaches yoga with mind, body, and spirit, with an attitude of gratitude. She lives a simple life in Lexington, Virginia with her two small dogs, who awe her with their capacity for love and compassion every day.

Seed Questions for Reflection

What do you feel grateful for? Can you share a story of a time you realized how much your life was supported by the work of others? What practice helps you grow in gratitude?

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Add Your Reflection

8 Past Reflections

Usha

Mar 2, 2022

Gratitude to all for bringing this wonderful passage to us.
Gratitude for this creation.

Ramesh Narayan

Feb 4, 2016

I feel grateful that I am alive and living. I am grateful that I got an opportunity to read Helen Moore's gratitude to all those connected with bringing the tea to her cup and also to all those made the cup to hold the tea. What I am today is because of my parents, my family, my sister and the innumerable friends and colleagues who I came in contact with, for them having tolerated me and forgiven my mistakes. I am very much grateful to God who is always with me in every part of my life.

david doane

Nov 24, 2015

I feel grateful for being alive and for the life that I have. Realizing what a good life I have and how much I have, especially realizing that it is a gift, helps me be grateful. I am grateful for opportunities I've had, for family and friends, for wonderful teachers I've had. I am grateful for people who have been patient with me, encouraged me, loved me. I've had good fortune and been spared many times when serious outcomes could have happened, and I am grateful. I have many times realized how much my life is supported by the work of so many others, and the author presenting such detail as to how much a cup of tea is supported by the work of many people really emphasizes the point. Being aware that we are one not only fosters compassion in me but also gratitude that I am part of the glorious whole. I grow in gratitude realizing that there are so many people that suffer pain, loss, illness, disaster so much more than I. Aging also helps... View full comment

Nina Sanfilippo

Nov 24, 2015

I take the alphabet from A-Z and go over people, places and things that I am grateful for. When I got ill and had to go to the hospital, I realized how the knowledge of the doctor and the nurses had my life in their hands and how much my friends loved me when they visited me. I say thank You to my Higher Power each morning and thank You to Him before retiring and all throughout the day.

Kristin Pedemonti

Nov 24, 2015

I feel grateful for being alive, utterly alive and being in touch with gratitude every day. It truly makes a HUGE difference in how one sees the world; we can focus on the wonder or focus on the negative. Being mindfully grateful started for me around 1999 and never stopped. I kept a gratitude journal from then on, sometimes the list was 5 or 6 simple things: sunshine, a bird singing in a nearby tree, waking in the morning under warm covers. Other times the list went for pages including what you all focused upon this morning: all those hands and hearts that create what we take for granted.
Thank you for once again focusing on gratitude and its impact on our lives and the lives of those around us.
Hugs from my heart to yours!

Annette

Nov 24, 2015

A wonderful morning contemplation and prayer of gratitude. This morning, the sun shines brightly into my window, a flowering maple a friend gifted me with is blooming beautiful red bell flowers for the first time, and I feel content and grateful. BTW, Helen, I live just up the road from you in Highland County :-)

Jagdish P Dave

Nov 20, 2015

This is a wonderful ode to gratitude. It shows how we are connected with each other. Many unseen hands have been instrumental in creating the cup and creating tea. A cup of tea is a symbol and a reminder of the interconnectedness of existence. We all are everyday receiving gifts from nature and human beings from far and near. We need to be mindful of the visible and invisible thread that connects us all.We are grateful for the gifts that we receive everyday. I have been blessed to receive such gifts everyday from the morning to the night in many many ways;My daughter making a cup of coffee for me and reminding me to drive to work safely.Children greeting me Namaste:by folding their hands lovingly. My colleagues extending their warm and kind hands when I need help from them.I feel happy to offer my gifts to my students, colleagues and parents. It is my experience that when I keep my mind and heart open, I realize how deeply we are connected with each other and how bles... View full comment

Liz Helgesen

Nov 20, 2015

Reading this piece (but sipping coffee :)) brought me right to the minutia of my life with gratitude for every tiny detail, every breath, each beat of my heart. For every heart beat of my precious family, individually and collectively. For every dirty dish I am so blessed to wash. For every letter of this keyboard I am so fortunate to press. And for every eye (and ear!) that gets to read this post, I am grateful. And for every soul in between us, I pray. I pray and invite them all to join us in this place. Right here. Right now. Just for this moment. With this reading. With love, for all of creation. Liz