Three Small Mercies

I used to roll my eyes at people who said "count your blessings" while I was drowning. It felt like telling someone in a burning building to appreciate the doorknob.

But then one Thursday afternoon. I was sitting on a bench, exhausted from crying, nothing resolved. A sparrow landed beside me. Just a tiny, ordinary bird. It tilted its head at me, hopped twice, then flew away.

And I laughed. Genuinely. For the first time in weeks.

I realized: I had been waiting for the big solution. The phone call. The apology. The breakthrough. And I had missed a thousand small things because they didn't look like what I was asking for.

The mystic Meister Eckhart said, "If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough."

I'm not telling you gratitude fixes everything. It doesn't. But it did open a window. A crack. Just enough light to remind me the world was still here, still turning, still holding me even when I couldn't feel it.

Tonight, write down three things that held you today. The warm coffee. The song on the radio. The person who texted you out of nowhere. Don't explain them, don't justify them. Just name them.

That's prayer. That's enough.