I have a memory of my fifth grade teacher asking us to write a short paragraph describing the things in our lives for which we were thankful. I sat for the longest time just staring at that piece of paper. I couldn’t think of a thing for which I was thankful. I was surrounded by gifts, but I didn’t recognize them as gifts, and so I couldn't begin to express my gratitude for them. I naively assumed that everyone had food and clothing, a loving family and a comfortable home. I was unaware of how privileged I was to enjoy these things on a daily basis, and simply took them for granted.
Gratitude springs from the awareness that we have been given a gift. Often this awareness comes upon us in unexpected ways. We are walking along and suddenly our breath is taken away by the beauty of the autumn leaves, or we are talking with a close friend and suddenly we realize what a gift this person has been to us. We’ve been given a gift: something has come to us from outside ourselves – something unexpected and even undeserved – and our lives have been enriched by it. We feel grateful.
This awareness can rise in us suddenly and unexpectedly, but it can also be cultivated. We can develop our awareness, and learn to practice gratitude. Learning to see with eyes of gratitude, becoming more aware of the gifts that surround us on every side, is an ability that needs to be kept alive through constant practice. In the words of Rabbi Abraham Heschel,”The insights of wonder must be constantly kept alive.”
There is not much in our culture that encourages this sense of wonder or that leads us to gratitude. More often, we are seduced into thinking that we need to acquire more in order to be truly happy and fulfilled. The advertising that assaults us each day encourages us to be greedy for more gifts. Our neighbors or coworkers describe to us their latest purchases with a sense of pride and satisfaction. If we listen to these voices, we won’t feel much gratitude. Instead, we’ll start thinking we don't have enough and that we need to get more...and more...and more. To resist the lure of voices that tell us we don't have enough takes courage and determination.
We can nurture a spirit of gratitude by cultivating our awareness that we are surrounded by gifts. But to become aware of these gifts is not enough. Gratitude moves beyond the recognition of the gift to the recognition of the giver. We Christians proclaim that God is the giver of all good gifts. We acknowledge that all that we have and all that we are is the result of God’s divine goodness and love.
“To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything He has given us,” writes Thomas Merton, “and (God) has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of (God’s) love, every moment of existence grace…” Even in difficult times there are reasons to be grateful. We are alive. We are loved. We are surrounded by beauty and wonder. And God is near, loving us and supporting us and making a way for us. We are and will be forever loved and helped by God! Can you look back on hard times you have known in your past with genuine gratitude? Perhaps you have become stronger; almost certainly you have learned from them something about yourself or about life that will help you going forward. Trials can make us more sensitive to the suffering of others, or help us to appreciate things we have taken for granted.
There is always reason for gratitude, which is why we say in our Eucharistic prayer, “It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you…” It is why Saint Paul instructs the Thessalonians to “give thanks in all things.” Even in darkness, difficulty or despair, Paul found reasons to give thanks and praise God. Expressing gratitude in difficult times is an expression of trust in God, and an acknowledgement that God is present and at work in every time and place, always bring life out of death, hope out of despair, joy out of sadness – even when we can’t see it.
I cannot stress enough how counter-cultural and how radical this practice of “giving thanks to God in all things” really is. Nor can I overstate how completely it will change our perspective on life. It will not take away every pain or sorrow, but it will transform us in the midst of them.
— Brother David Vryhof,
The Society of St John the Evangelist
The 'Jubilee Cope, Stole and Mitre, White flannel cope with gold, silver and copper thread appliqued and laid work, Designed by Beryl Dean, Made by the needlework students at the Stanhope Institute (1976-1977).
Thousands of hours of needlework went into decorating this extraordinary vestment set composed of a cope (a long cloak) a stole (a band of material worn over the shoulders) and a mitre (the peaked ceremonial head-dress worn by bishops). The set was originally presented to the Diocese of London to commemorate The Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 and was worn at the special Thanksgiving Service that year. It has been worn on many occasions since and is still worn by the Bishop of London when he officiates at special services.