God Is Great, God Is Good, So Much GRATITUDE at the MSIA Gratitude Workshop -- Conference of Gratitude, 2005

Click here to view the photo slideshow from the Gratitude Workshop at MSIA’s Conference 2005.

Buoyancy (noun), Lightness of spirit; cheerfulness (websters.com, online dictionary).

Buoyancy is about as close as a word can get to describing the energy of tonight’s workshop. This year’s Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSIA) Conference of Gratitude launched with a delightful public workshop focused on—yes, indeed—gratitude. At 7:30PM, a sizable group of Light-hearted folks, both new and old to MSIA, gathered to experience an evening rich with practical information, exercises, and opportunities to awaken and expand our awareness as Divine beings, blessed with the capacity to choose gratitude with every situation in our lives and in the world.

One of MSIA’s Presidents, Vincent Dupont, and Peace Theological Seminary (PTS) facilitator, David Bransky, co-facilitated the evening with humor, tenderness, and brotherly repartee, constantly returning our focus to ourselves as Divine Souls, one with God, living a spiritual focus. Vincent started the gratitude rolling by sharing the basic premises of MSIA:
Out of God come all things.
God loves all of Its creation.
Not one Soul will be lost.

What a way to start. When we let those premises sink in, like a teabag gently steeping, we can experience a tremendous amount of gratitude for everything. As Vincent and David shared, with these premises we can know that all that happens to us is truly for us. Our work as spiritual beings is to choose that focus, especially in those areas of our lives or the world where we may find it hard to see the good, the learning, the blessing that is present.

To support us in expanding in gratitude, Vincent & David shared a number of practical truths, including:
Gratitude is a choice.
An attitude of gratitude can help us shift our perception of any situation.
As spiritual beings, practicing gratitude (and shifting our perception when we don’t feel grateful) is one of our responsibilities.
When we choose gratitude, we automatically and naturally move toward participating more, especially in terms of the cycle of giving and receiving

We also continually returned to the MSIA teaching of asking for the Light—God’s loving energy that is present in all things—to be with us for the highest good of all concerned as we moved into each exercise and phase of the workshop.

The evening closed with a short, sweet, simple, and profound reflective exercise where we had an opportunity to connect with God and our goodness and purity within. There is something so exquisite about how these workshops unfold with the energy of the Traveler’s and God’s love. How wonderful it is to choose gratitude, and have these opportunities to connect with who we truly are, beyond the information and exercises to the experience of this living love, so ordinary and awesome all at once. How wonderful that the opportunity is always here, now, present and that the game of gratitude is always afoot, inviting us to choose back, expand, discover and be creative again and again and again. How blessed we are by God and the Traveler’s love, constantly present and inviting us to expand in our gratitude and knowing.

The evening closed with an invitation to all of us to keep the gratitude going, and integrate the attitude of gratitude into our daily lives. If you’re new to MSIA, you can consider subscribing to Soul Awareness Discourses (the program of study with the Traveler’s teachings in MSIA), and whether you’re new or a long-time student, there is a great seminar on cassette by John-Roger entitled, The Attitude of Gratitude (#7551). You can find more information about Discourses and the tape at www.msia.org, or by calling 323.737.4055.

Conference continues tomorrow with a whole boatload of great events—the MSIA Representatives Meeting, the PTS graduation ceremony for the Master’s and Doctorate of Spiritual Science programs, and an evening of peace and gratitude with the Institute of Individual and World Peace. Wherever you are and however you’ve come to these web pages—thank you for being part of all of this, through your presence and loving and Light. God bless you, we love you, and peace be with you. Enjoy the rest of Conference, and your adventures in expanding with gratitude!

Baruch Bashan
(The Blessings Already Are)

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