Gratitude
The passages of scripture for Sunday remind us to be thankful for the great gift of life: “Do not worry about anything,” writes St. Paul. Jesus invites us to see life from a spiritual perspective, to see the ordinary fabric of our lives in a renewed way, “from above.” We often lose sight of the sheer wonder of living, but to be present to the gift of life, even and especially in the midst of our daily toils, can alter our attitude, change our behaviour and actually improve our overall health. “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough,” wrote Meister Eckhart (14th century German theologian).
Gratitude contributes to happiness. And gratitude practiced daily can create resilience, can actually strengthen us, empower us, get us through the night and the day. Gratitude is emotional, ethical and eternal.
The spiritual and the physical, scientists demonstrate, are indeed closely connected. A relatively new branch of science called Positive Psychology seeks to study the impact and influence of positive emotions and character traits. This movement tries to examine what makes life good. Not surprisingly, Gratitude is one of those positive factors attracting attention. Science confirms what we were taught at a young age: “Thank you” is truly the magic word. Gratitude contributes to happiness. And gratitude practiced daily can create resilience, can actually strengthen us, empower us, get us through the night and the day. Gratitude is emotional, ethical and eternal.
Diana Butler-Bass, contemporary theologian and writer, has published a book titled Gratitude wherein she explores, as her subtitle says, “The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks.” I have read the book but I have also listened to an hour-long lecture by her on the topic and book. I encourage you to Google her lecture and listen to it: https://theguibordcenter.org/faiths/christianity/diana-butler-bass-gratitude-inside- out/
The Christian faith is meant to be transformative, to change us, so meditative practices, reading, prayer, church attendance, should help us to change our hearts and minds and souls and thereby to love God with all our strength. It doesn’t happen by itself. We have to work at it, and even just a little effort can produce positive change.
There are practical ways to encourage gratitude, to cultivate gratitude within us, even and especially when we aren’t feeling particularly grateful. An ancient Jewish morning prayer goes like this: “I thank You, living and eternal King, who has returned my soul into me with compassion—great is Your faithfulness!” Awaking each morning is an obvious source of gratitude, but one that we often lose sight of in our hectic days. How often do we get the chance to stop and thank God for the miracle of our own existence? To encourage gratitude within, keep a gratitude diary, list the things or people or events that happen in a day for which you are grateful. When feeling despondent, read the diary. Add to it. What or who in your past influenced you positively and creates gratitude within. Express gratitude to someone, in your present life or in your past. Write a thank-you note or letter. Simply say thank-you to people in your daily life. Scientists demonstrate that the practice of gratitude has a positive effect on your brain and body. It’s healthy for you. And like any spiritual practice, it grows and deepens the more you practice it. Butler-Bass argues that besides being an emotion, gratitude is also ethical, that is, a way of living that we can choose to follow. Practice gratitude, do thankfulness, freely give without thought or hope of return, and it can heal yourself or another person, who in turn might pass it on and thereby improve the common good, make our communities healthier.
Butler-Bass takes this analysis one step further to demonstrate the politics of gratitude. As a student of the Bible, she recognizes the structure of dominant societies described there and sees a pyramid shape, a top-down system of gratitude, whereby the ones at the top give to the ones below in order to buy loyalty and wealth. The ones below are expected to be grateful and give back in the form of taxes and tribute. The ones at the bottom are burdened by a debt of gratitude. Payment is exacted from them; it’s not feely given. And they have no choice but to give because if you don’t want to “render unto Caesar the things that belong to Caesar,” then Caesar will throw you into prison or crucify you.
Into this corrupt system of gratitude enters Jesus who proposes an alternative system, symbolized by a table, hospitality, sharing abundance freely. “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” is the correct translation of the original Aramaic. By realizing that there is abundant grace and compassion, the all- encompassing love of God, freely given and available for all, we are enabled to share the world’s abundance. Ghandi said, “there is enough in our world to feed everyone’s need, not everyone’s greed.” Jesus’ vision of the Kingdom of God is a radical alternative to the traditional power structure of not only his society but also ours today, which is designed to feed wealth and power to the few on top. We do not have to be dependent on or burdened by this oppressive structure, we do not have to participate in it, we can indeed “forgive our debtors,” and seek to transform not only ourselves but also our society by working for the common good. We can practice a politics of gratitude.
Finally, Gratitude is eternal. Jesus pointed to love as the definition of God; God is love and those who know love, know God. Jesus taught us to see God in one another, that when you give a cup of water to the least of these, you give it to God. Our gratitude is expressed in our loving. Love encompasses everything. Bishop John Shelby Spong puts it this way: “If God is the source of life, I worship God by living. If God is the source of love, I worship God by loving. If God is the ground of being, I worship God by having the courage to be more fully human; the embodiment of the divine.” “The daily round, the common task,” this “fragile earth our island home,” can be redeemed, experienced as holy, enchanting, eternal, by cultivating gratitude within and without.