i try to remember to say this grace aloud or silently each day,

but sometimes, i do forget.

sometimes, i just take, sometimes i am a taker

sometimes, i take and am a taker

for granted, someone who receives without proper contemplation, humility, gratitude, reverence or reciprocity.

to have gratitude lodged deep within me, in my heart is not quite enough, in this tender and tenuous life and in these tender and tenuous times:

i must renew this vow of gratitude and grace in words, song, or dance daily — along with daily, physical offerings — material gifts or acts of time, attention or labor in reciprocity with the land, the animals and the people – familiar and unknown.

i had clipped this “prayer” from a magazine so many years ago, it has been tacked on my fridge, stored in a keepsake box, tucked in a photograph frame on my mantle, and even kept in my wallet; i have misplaced it many times, but

now, i have it here always:

This food comes from the Earth and the Sky,

It is the gift of the entire universe

And the fruit of much hard work;

I vow to live a life which is worthy to receive it.

GRACE OF THE BODHISATTVA