For several months I’ve been wrestling with the concept of Gratitude. What exactly is it? Are there limits? Can I pick and choose what I am grateful for? Or does living with gratitude require me to be grateful for everything, which brings up a boatload of theological and emotional questions?

A traditional Jewish practice is to pray Modah ani as the first prayer of the day, typically said even before actually getting out of bed. It is based on the belief that when we are sleeping, our souls leave our bodies and are in God’s care during the night. The prayer is specific, thanking God for returning our souls to us. (Or to put it in more secular terms, we are still alive!)

Because I found that beginning my day with words of gratitude was so powerful, I wanted to expand the prayer to reflect gratitude as a broad concept and apply to all aspects of life. I am grateful, once again, to Ritualwell for publishing one of my prayers.

https://ritualwell.org/ritual/modah-ani

©2021Martha Hurwitz