Gratitude

Last night I was saying one of my favourite prayers - the Tablet of Ahmad, revealed by Baha'u'llah to one of His followers (must find my history books and check out more details about it). I came across a line I know I've read thousands of times before, and it suddenly hit me in a new way:

"O Ahmad! Forget not My bounties while I am absent."

How often do I do this? Forget about all of God's blessings and ongoing assistance in my life in those times when I can't seem to see Him as clearly as I want? To negate the existence of those bounties because they are not what I think I deserve? In God's absence, I want to appreciate His bounties as clearly as when He is more visibly present. Because the truth is, He is always present.

And then on the human scale: why do I doubt the love of others when they are not immediately before me, meeting my needs in a visible way? That love - that bounty - is still there, whether they are near or far.