 Gratitude is a posture, an attitude, a perspective and way of life. Gratitude is choosing how and where to focus our attention. Everyone has difficulty, and everyone can find beauty and joy. This is not to say that all beauty and joy or all experiences of suffering are equal. Nor can I say I understand your suffering and hardship simply because I’ve experienced my own. We can each attend to the ways that the world, God’s world, demonstrates divine love and provision. And we can name and acknowledge the real ways that the brokenness, lack and chaos in the world and in the human family causes harm, committing ourselves to strive for justice and righteousness. We can have gratitude even in the midst of loss. When we see people who live in extreme poverty sing and dance with joy, we are reminded of these truths. When we encounter families who lose loved ones to savage illness or violence and yet they are able to be generous with organ donation or turn their loss into a life mission and ministry, we see beauty transcending sorrow. Paul reminds us to focus our attention on that which is good and praiseworthy – to actively and consciously chose. One of the reasons we need community, specifically Christian Community, is so that we have people who will remind us of these truths when the circumstances of our lives threaten to overwhelm us. Below is a journal page for you to reflect upon the place of gratitude in your own life and how you can develop a more focused and consistent spirit of THANKS-LIVING. Please share with us your responses and what you are learning / committing to grow your gratitude.
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