Pirate Prayer and Giving Thanks

One of the things I'm doing with the girls I mentor is pray together. Every time we get together, we do something called Lectio Divina. This is latin for Divine Reading. Essentially, it's praying with scripture. We usually pray with the Gospel reading for daily Mass - since it's chosen specifically for that day by the church to speak to the people. I like to use lectio divina in a form I was taught called pirate prayer. :) It's called this because the acronym we use is ARRR. (Get it? ha.)

A. Acknowledge. First, we place ourselves in God's presence and acknowledge to ourselves the things distracting us, the emotions we're feeling, the things on our mind...
R. Relate. Second, we relate all of these things to God. We tell him honestly how we are... the state of our soul and heart, we can thank Him, praise Him, ask Him for help, tell Him our frustrations and joys.
R. Receive. Third, we allow Him to speak to us. This is where the scripture comes in - He speaks to us through His word. We read it and look for things that stick out to us. We take those parts and ask what God is trying to tell us through it.
R. Respond. Lastly, we apply what God spoke to us to our lives. How does it relate to what we told Him in step 2? What was revealed to us about ourselves? Do we need to change something in our lives? Do we need to just be aware/have a perspective change?

Today:
Acknowledging how I was I realized that these past couple of weeks I've struggled with the virtue of charity. I've struggled loving people in their weakness, where they're at, accepting them for who they are and the fact that I can't change them. I've struggled with being generous and patient. I gave this to God, let Him know who and what I was struggling with in particular and then went on:

Today's reading is Luke 17: 11-19

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying,
"Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"
And when he saw them, he said,
"Go show yourselves to the priests."
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
"Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you."

The first thing that stuck out was, "As they were going they were cleansed." Then, "Where are the other nine?" As I was thinking about these I realized that I can really relate to these lepers. They came to Jesus, as they were and asked Him for help. They trusted Him by going to show themselves to the high priest even though He didn't heal them right away - they weren't healed until they took that initial leap of faith to follow His lead. Then the second part... Where are they? They are where He told them to go. They were still doing His will. They are getting their reward for trusting Him. They are rejoicing in being healed, going back into society, to worship at the temple, to their families whom they have been separated from, to their jobs... they are going back to their lives! What a gift from God. But that one leper, the one who thanks Jesus, trusts that this gift will still be there if he takes ten minutes to thank Jesus for it. He (the one who doesn't know God) understands that something incredible has happened to him when the other nine are used to hearing stories of God's power and witnessing it in their own lives. They've grown accustomed to it and expect it. Got me thinking, what is my reward? Do I expect or feel entitled to what God gives me for trusting Him? Do I love Him for being God and creating and loving me or for the things He gives me? Do I stop to thank God for the little things He gives me every day or take them for granted? This brought to mind a quote I saw somewhere and didn't think much of at the time:

What if we woke up tomorrow with only the things we thanked God for today?

When I get frustrated with my teammates or annoyed at a student or upset when things don't go the way I want do I still thank God for them? Given the option, I'd still rather wake up with them in my life tomorrow, so why am I not still thanking God for them? They are His gift to me today. Gratitude feeds charity. Thanks for the kick in perspective, God! Needed that one.

A little insight into my life with students, my prayer, and my heart today. Hope you enjoy :)